Story 10: Gundam W & Lupin III: The Wizards Glass
by Turles
Summary: Lupin sets his sights upon a very valuable gem that has just come to the Smithsonian, but this gem is going to be a lot more trouble than what Lupin could have ever imagined.
1. The Theft

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Lupin the Third, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

**Notice to Readers:** To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required. 

**Gundam Wing and Lupin the Third**

**The Wizards Glass**

**Chapter 1: The Theft**

*****

            Washington D.C.:  The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

            It was a bright and sunny day in the city of Washington D.C., the kind of day that had very few clouds in the sky, a light breeze that would slowly move the tree branches, and it wasn't too hot or too cold.  It was the kind of day when people would be outside playing Frisbee with their dogs or when young lovers go out for a picnic by a river.  Except on that particular day a special event was taking place.  At the Museum of Natural History, there were vertical banners hanging between the decorative pillars at the top of the stone stairs.  The banners were the color of black like charcoal, but upon them was a great pink sphere that took up half the banner.  The pink sphere was being held in a stand like a Gypsy's crystal ball.  Above and below it, in a shade of pink that matched the sphere itself, was the announcement.  

NEW EXHIBIT

THE WIZARDS GLASS

JULY 26 - 29

            Inside the enormous museum the new exhibit was about to be unveiled.  There were several museum patrons, the press from several different magazines and newspapers were there.  Then there were a few curious people who were passing by on the street and one very curious visitor who was dressed in a red suit jacket.  With these different groups there, the crowd was relatively small, then again the first crowd is small until work gets around.  

            "Welcome ladies and gentlemen."  The curator said as he stood at a simple wooden podium in front of a red curtain with the few flashes of the press going off at the entrance to the exhibit.  "The Smithsonian Institute is proud to announce the completion of a new wing to house its newest exhibit.  A new member into the Smithsonian family that would rival that of the Hope Diamond."  He went to his left side where there was a golden rope attached to the red curtain behind his podium.  He gripped it tightly like a kid in a gym class ready to climb it.  "I give you, The Wizards Glass."      

            The red curtain came down revealing an archway into the new wing.  The crowd flooded into the wing, which was about the same size as the exhibit for the Hope Diamond.  The way that the wing was set up was that all around the walls were tables, display cases and murals showing stories that surrounded the star of the exhibit.  That star was inside a small display case in the very center of the room with enough space between it and the walls for people to gather around it and ogle it like men drooling over a Playboy calendar girl.  

            There it sat under thick glass and possibly hundreds of security devices that would keep the most prized exhibit safe.  All the photographers had gathered around it and snapped off their pictures for their stories at their workplace.  As well as a few tourists who just wanted a picture of it for their won sentimental value.  It truly was something that rivaled the Hope Diamond.  The Wizards Glass, was just like what the picture in those banners on the outside of the museum had depicted.  It was like a crystal ball as it sat upon its stand as if it was about to be used by a Gypsy to see the future.  

            As the photographers were snapping off their pictures some patrons were looking at the murals, reading up upon the history, and finding out what the Wizards Glass was in the first place.  In one of the murals it told of what made the Wizards Glass so special on a physical level.  

            _After close examination of the Wizards Glass, several geologists and gem experts had examined it and concluded that it was made out of diamond.  A form of diamond that is one of the rarest to find along with other types of diamonds that are colored through natural processes.  Using the Diamond measurement of karats it is estimated that the value of the Wizards Glass is ten times more valuable than the Hope Diamond itself._

            One of the museum patrons grew a very sheepish smile when he read it.  It was the man in the red suit jacket; he cupped his chin as he smiled allowing his thumb to rest in on one of his sideburns as his mind conjured up such wonderful images.  This man was a great man in his own right; he was the notorious thief known only as Arséne Lupin the Third.  A man who had done so many deeds that it makes such thieves of both fact and fiction look miniscule compared to his feats.  This master thief had taken particular interest in the Wizards Glass mostly because of his desire to impress a member of his group.  A woman who was a master at seduction, Fujiko Mine, he knew that she loved jewels and this was quite a jewel, it was captivating to look at and it was even more valuable than the Hope Diamond.  How could such a master thief wishing to impress the love of his life with a great prize?  

            As Lupin conjured up ways to steal it and fantasized about what Fujiko would do after his prize had been given to her.  He imagined in the back of his mind Fujiko opening up her arms (and preferably her bed) to him.  The thought made his head swim with love and lust in the same confused concoction.  Then he decided to kill a little more time by reading more about the Wizards Glass.

            He moved onto the eccentric history behind this Diamond ball.  Apparently this diamond had been passed through several owners over the past 3 centuries.  There are no solid records of its origin.  It is said that its origins lay somewhere deep in the heart of Africa, either somewhere deep in the Congo or down deep in the Earth of South Africa.  It was said that the original stone was roughly the size of a football.  After it was discovered it was then fashioned into something marvelous...a perfect sphere.  After it was fashioned, a great wizard or witch doctor used it.  A man who was said could foretell the future, see lands far away, and even peer into the very souls of others.  

            That was the story of its origin.  The first recorded documented ownership of the Wizards Glass was in the 1700 when a royal family in India owned it as a crown jewel.  Then during that time, the Wizards Glass was stolen from the royal family and taken to the west into the deserts of Saudi Arabia where a Prince kept it.  He kept it on his shelf never knowing what kind of power or beauty was held within it.  Then during the first part of the 20th century when wars broke out in the Near Far East the Wizards Glass was lost.  By that time, it had only slipped into matters of legend until the Glass resurfaced again in the possession of a gypsy named Rhea of the Coos.  A very old woman who said that she saw the unfolding of the 20th century in it.  After she made extremely accurate predictions, she disappeared and so too did her glass.  Then during the 1980's an eccentric billionaire was passing by an old antique shop in New York City when he found the Wizards Glass.  Amazingly enough he bought it at a price of 200 dollars and kept it for himself but then this billionaire slowly went mad in his apartment in Central Park West.  It was recorded that when he was found he was locked in his bathroom with the Wizards Glass in his hands and he was repeating _it will not work for me anymore.  It will not work for me anymore.  So then, the Wizards Glass was auctioned off as soon as the billionaire was committed.  It was then sold to a private collector for over 100 million dollars, which he then donated to the Smithsonian.       _

            "Wow."  Lupin said as he looked back at the Wizards Glass, "You've been through quite a lot little guy."  Then he went back to read the last line

            _Despite the fact that the Wizards Glass is a pink diamond no one has dared tried to cut it into an acceptable diamond like form.  One of the best diamond cutters in the world refused to do it and the donor of the Wizards Glass has requested that it may not be cut at all._

            Lupin looked back at the Wizards Glass and smiled, "And no wonder," He thought, "your pretty enough, gorgeous."

* * *

            Later that day, Lupin and his friends were in the hotel suite discussing the pamphlet of the Wizards Glass.  As he read each part of it, he kept reveling in how valuable and the amount of history that was behind such a simple ball of pink diamond.  Even the master seductress of the group was titillated by just the amount of money it was worth as well as the pure beauty of it.  There was no doubt in Fujiko's mind that she wanted the Wizard's Glass and it was no mystery that Lupin figured that much out.  It made him want to get it, just to win her over.    

            The Master Gunman, Jigen was never one to hide what was on his mind in these matters, "So this thing is worth over 100 million dollars huh?"

            "That's what the display said, Jigen."  Lupin said with a great smirk on his face stretching from side burn to sideburn and showing off all his teeth.  "I for one can't turn down such a beauty."

            Jigen never hid anything on his mind, and neither did the master swordsman Goemon who was sitting on the floor cleaning his sword, "The pamphlet also told about people who disappeared, died or went mad with that thing in their possession." 

            "That's just superstitious nonsense."  Lupin brushed him off

            "You said the very same thing when you tried to swipe King Tutankhamen's Death Mask and look where it got you when you were in that mess."

            Lupin hated to be reminded of that Egyptian mess when he slipped that thing over his head and how it made him go berserk in the most peculiar ways.  Such ways that Lupin didn't even want to think about for they were both traumatic and embarrassing since he had to take back the death mask to its proper place.  He never wanted to admit it but somewhere underneath it all, he knew that Jigen was right, but his pride was in the way as a master thief.  

            "If something like that is worth so much, I say we swipe it."  Lupin postulated, "It just wouldn't feel right for my skills unless I did it myself."  

            "In that case, do it yourself."  Jigen said as he sat back in his chain and pulled down the brim of his fedora over his eyes.  

            "What about you Goemon?"  Lupin asked the swordsman

            "I'm afraid that I can't help you."  He said, "I would be meddling in affairs that are beyond my understanding."

            "You men really are big babies."  Fujiko brushed them off, "If you don't understand it, you run in fear or kill it.  At least Lupin is willing to pursuit it."  

            "That's right, Fuji-baby."  He said as he sneakily tried to place his hand on Fujiko's ass to get a good feel of her, but Fujiko was no fool to Lupin's trickery as she slapped away his hand.  Yet, Lupin was not disheartened, for he knew that he would soon be bedding with the master seductress in her pink dress.  

* * *

            Elsewhere at the D.C. International Airport, a very steamed man in a brown double-breasted suit with a tan trench coat and a brown fedora stepped out into the airport terminal.  He carried no baggage with him, only that peeved look on his face as if he was a kettle ready to blow its steam through the whistle.  He looked through the airport terminal looking for a newsstand with his round eyes.  He went to it and picked one up after paying the person there.  He rubbed his wide dimpled chin as his thumb grazed his sideburn.  This was the man who was always upon the trail of the master thief, this was the master policeman, Inspector Zenigata of Interpol.  One of only a few men on earth who can even come close to the thief Lupin the Third.  Though lately, the trail of Lupin the Third had gone somewhat cold and thus Zenigata was left in the dark on his whereabouts.  Until his round eyes came across something in the science section:

            _The Wizards Glass comes to the Smithsonian: The pink diamond sphere that was only subject of legends has now made its official appearance at the __Smithsonian__ _Museum___ of Natural History.  An entirely new wing has been added to the museum to accommodate this new arrival…_

            Zenigata continued to read on until he found out how much this thing was worth.  When his eyes locked onto the dollar signs, his mind made an immediate snap like an automatic reflex to catch a ball coming right at his face.  

            "AHA!"  He shouted out in the middle of the airport terminal, "I got you now, Lupin!  I gotta a pretty pair of bracelets in my pocket with your name on them!"  

            Of course, the zealous inspector failed to see the enormous amount of people who were staring at him as he made his proclamation, but he didn't care.  He had been waiting for this moment for weeks and now he was going to nail the son of a bitch. 

* * *

            The big heist was going to happen later on that night and Lupin already had the scheme planned out.  He knew that at night, the whole place was sealed off.  The only way into the inner sanctum where the Wizards Glass was held was through an air vent.  Even then the air vent was guarded with infrared beams even the floor was like that so that if anyone managed to get through the air vent they couldn't set foot on the floor.  

Yet, Lupin was clever about this sort of thing, he had his own special techniques of opening the air vent.  He lowered down a very special tool that with the use of magnets unscrewed the bolts.  As soon as he got the grid out, he lowered several small devices that diverted the laser beams far enough away to allow him to get through.  Yet, he couldn't do this job alone, Fujiko was there and she held the ropes that lowered Lupin down to the Glass case that held the Wizards Glass.  As he lowered himself down, he kept in mind of all the sensors that were in the room, sound sensors, temperature sensors, the pressure sensor that the Wizards Glass sat upon, and the scent sensor.  The scent sensor was a new type of sensor that could detect the scent of human sweat, no matter who it was.  This was the reason that Lupin was dressed in a wetsuit as he was lowered down to the glass, but he made sure that no part of his bare skin was exposed to the open air of the room.  

He came within reach of the case that held the Wizards Glass, he knew that there were pressure sensors around the glass that would detect the slightest amount of weight taken away from it.  Lupin knew exactly how much glass he would going to cut and how much it would weight.  He took out his glasscutter and cut away at the glass, but then he brought out a small cubed weight.  He was just about to set it down upon the glass case as he took away the glass that he cut away.  Holding his hands away from the glass case as he made sure that he didn't trip any alarms.  

Though the headpiece that he was wearing he heard Fujiko grunt, "Could you hurry Lupin, I'm a seductress not a body builder."

"Patience Fuji-cakes."  Lupin cooed very quietly

The hole in the glass was large enough to place both his hands through it to reach for the Wizards glass.  Before placing his hands head first into the glass, he pulled out another weight that was exactly the same weight as the Wizard's Glass.  His hands dove down into the hole and carefully made the next procedure.

He placed his left hand around the Wizard's Glass but didn't place any pressure upon it.  He gripped it gently but firmly around its round mass feeling its smooth texture through the thick fabric of his wetsuit.  He carefully inched the two of them together across the cushion that sat upon the pressure sensor.  Soon, the Glass was free, it was in Lupin's hands as he pulled his prize away from the case.  

He then placed the glass into his pocket while he reached for the glass piece that he cut away and reached for the weight upon the glass case.  He replaced the two of them and then called very quietly to Fujiko to pull him up.  

As he went up to the air vent he couldn't help but whisper, "And away we go." 

The grid in the air vent was replaced and the lasers were back where they were, and yet no one even suspected it.  But they will tomorrow morning.         

* * *

            Back at the hotel where Lupin and his gang were staying at, there was Inspector Zenigata who was asking the desk clerk a few questions.  He reached into his pocket and laid out four pictures in front of him and asked the very standard question, "Have you seen these people."

            "I'm sorry."  The desk clerk said, "But I can't reveal that information, we pride ourselves upon customer privacy."

            The Inspector reached across the table and yanked over the clerk by his tie, "I don't give a crap about your policy. I'm on the trail of a very sneaky thief and if I don't get some cooperation I'm going to sue your ass for obstructing an officer in the course of his duty."

            "I don't make the policy here, sir."  The clerk squirmed, "I just work here."  

            Zenigata allowed the desk clerk go, and as the young man was straightening out his tie and his shirt the inspector sulked.  

            "And I was so close."  He shook his head.

            Little did he know that through the automatic doors came two figures that he would have recognized immediately, if only he had turned his head around, and looked to the door.  But he was too caught up in feeling bad that he was so close to nailing the thief only to be pissed on by hotel policies.    

            Lupin and Fujiko walked into the hotel lobby, both arms around each other and laughing away.  The two of them were drunk with laughter and fat with glee that such a job that they had done went over so well.  One of the few cases where it seemed like it was actually going to succeed and they were going to get their big pay-off.  Lupin held the prize that they had stolen in a small waist pack that was slung around his shoulder that bulged as the two of them walked to the elevator.  Yet, in their delirious state, the two of them had failed to notice the light tan trench coat that was hunched over the desk clerks counter.  Then the elevator doors opened and they pressed the button that went to their respective floor.  

            As they faced the lobby they didn't pay attention to whom was there, but the Inspector who was there did notice them.  He turned so that his back was leaning against the marble and concrete desk and he was just about to give up.  He shook his head at such a thought of giving up, especially with a hunch so strong as the one he had.  Then he heard the elevator ding, he wanted to look in that direction, but when he looked the adrenaline shot through his whole body like seeing the monster for the first time in the movie.  He saw Lupin and Fujiko both laughing together as the elevator doors closed.  The inspector dashed to the elevator and pressed the up button repeatedly hoping that it would bring back down the car and with those two in it…nothing.

            "Crap!"  He cursed as he went back to the clerks' desk

            "What room are those two staying in?" He demanded from the clerk

            "I can't tell you that."  The clerk repeated

            The Inspector wasn't going to put up with it any longer, he took out his badge and his gun and flashed them both at the clerks face.  

            "If you don't cooperate I'm gonna make sure that the next few years of your life will be so miserable that you'll wish that you were working at Burger King."  

            The desk clerk decided to cooperate, despite the fact that the dead-end job of his at a hotel in D.C. wasn't worth going to jail over.  He gave the inspector the information he wanted.  

* * *

            Back in the room, there was celebration of the greatest kind between four people.  Lupin and Fujiko had gotten a good 100-dollar bottle of Champagne to celebrate the great theft of the Wizards Glass.  

            "Here's to our success."  Lupin smiled

            "To the Emperor of thieves."  Fujiko retorted

            "Cheers." Jigen said softly

            "Kabai."  Goemon said in a flat tone

            "What are you guys so glum about?" Lupin asked as he drunk his champagne, "So far, we haven't gotten into anything really odd like with that Death Mask."

            "Yet…" Jigen finished

            "You really are no fun."  Lupin pouted, "I just completed my greatest victory and I thought you'd be happy that we'd be over 100 million dollars richer."

            "I just don't trust anything that has bad legends around it."  

            "Hey, come on."  Lupin brushed off Jigen's warnings as he picked up the pink diamond ball, "Look, nothings happening."  With that Lupin began to do tricks with the Wizards Glass, he spun it around on his finger like a Harlem Globetrotter, he passed it from one hand to another, then slid it down his arm, and down his other as it softly landed in his hand.  

            "See?" He asked as he passed the ball around from hand to hand like a circus juggler, yet as he kept doing his juggling tricks he couldn't help but keep his eyes on the ball.  In fact his eyes were glued to them, slowly his juggling tricks stopped and he held the Wizards Glass in his hands and stared down into its depths.  As he stared, the pink depths of the Wizards Glass consumed him.  He couldn't help but stare…deeper…deeper…deeper…down…down…down.  He went further into its depths and he came down to his knees not feeling the pain that his legs were in.  

            As he continued to stare into the Wizards Glass, the sphere began to emit a pink light.  A light that drowned out all the other lights in the room, the lights that once made the room look yellowish-white, now was completely pink.  It was nightmarish, like being inside Barbie's dream-house, but at the same time if felt good.  As the pink light had reached Jigen and Goemon, both of them felt really relaxed, almost at ease.  Even Fujiko felt really…groovy.  

            The pink light had consumed the room and everyone was feeling groovy, the door was kicked open.  There standing in the doorway was the man that Lupin always called, "Pops", he stood there looking at all the pink light but dismissed it for sight of the greater detail, Lupin holding onto the Wizard's Glass.  

            "AHA!"  He shouted as he pointed his finger at the thief who was transfixed by his prize, "I got you now!"

            When Zenigata said that to Lupin, the thief looked up at him and his eyes seemed…dazed.  Almost the same kind of expression as if he was drunk or if he was stoned.  He looked to Zenigata with no surprise and not even a warm sarcastic welcome.  He just sat there with the Wizards Glass in his hands and that dazed look on his face.  

            That was only the beginning for the pink light of the Wizard's Glass had consumed them all, including the zealous Zenigata who then felt groovy too by the pink light.  In another flash of light, all of them were gone from the room in Washington D.C.  All of them, Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko, Zenigata, and Lupin…they all vanished into the light of the Wizard's Glass leaving the room empty and with the door open.  

To be continued…


	2. Tumbling Down

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Lupin the Third, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

**Notice to Readers:** To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required. 

**Gundam Wing and Lupin the Third**

**The Wizards Glass**

**Chapter 2: Tumbling Down**

*****

Preventer Report:

Officer: Heero Yuy 

Code-name: The Perfect Soldier    

Date: February 9, A.C. 216

Report:  It has been a little over a year after the office of Preventer has taken a serious attack by an enemy armed with mobile suits.  Since then the office has expanded itself, thanks to a little increase in Government funding, more personnel have been hired to patrol the Earth as well as Space, and offices have been set up on the Colonies and across the Earth.  Preventer has grown into a full blown Federal Organization in which there are the patrollers, the reporters, and us the enforcers who pilot the only mobile suits in existence.  

            On a personal note, our children, the children of the Gundam pilots, have been transferred from their original high school to the Sank Kingdom St. Gabriella institute.  There they will be prepared for college as well as groomed for whatever responsibilities lie before them.  

            In the line of duty here at Preventer, we're on the trail of a man who we suspect is producing mobile suits to be sold to small organizations.  Basically an arms dealer to militants, we believe that we can catch him now that we know where he's producing them.  

* * *

The pink glow that had consumed Lupin, his friends, and Zenigata had vanished.  All five of them had found themselves in strange yet familiar surroundings.  It was a hotel room, very much like the one that they had rented back in Washington D.C., but what had just happened.  

The ever-persistent Zenigata didn't care; he came back to his senses after the vanishing of the pink haze.  His eyes were set upon Lupin as it always was in the past.  He pointed out his finger at the master thief, "Your all under arrest!"  He proclaimed

Lupin hearing the gruff voice of Zenigata had been snapped back to the reality of the situation he was in, "Uh-oh."  He said, "Let's blow this joint."  

"How?" Jigen asked as he reached into his pocket for his favorite weapon.  

Lupin kept looking around the room and knew that the door that Zenigata stood in was the only way out…or was it.  His head turned for the window, despite the fact he didn't have a good idea of where he was or even what floor of the hotel he was on he dashed for the window with the Wizards glass in his hands.  The others got the hint and followed behind.  Lupin curled into a ball with his arms covering his eyes and his hand gripped tightly on the Wizards glass as he threw his body against the window and shattered it into pieces that fell to the ground below like Rain.  That was when Lupin opened his eyes and saw how high up he was.  The cars and the people down below looked like ants, at least they did until the force of gravity began to act upon him and his friends.  Soon those ants down below were drawing closer like the first drop of a high roller coaster.  Seeing that there was no chance of being saved in sight, Lupin screamed.

"Oh geez, oh mommy, this is it!"  

He closed his eyes and the only thing that could cross his mind was what could have been.  He could have been shacking up with Fujiko who was impressed with the Wizards Glass in itself, now because of this he was going to die.  It was another one of those times when he thought to himself _why didn't I ever listen to Jigen?  _

            SLAM!

            Lupin felt something smack against his face, almost as hard as a woman slapping him would feel, but it was harder.  It was colder.  He opened his eyes and it was met with white, pure white.  Even stranger he felt wind gushing against his face, like those times when he would drive in his Mercedes with the hood down and feel the wind against his forehead.  This felt harder than that, it felt colder…like…like metal.  He opened his eyes and looked underneath himself and found white…white metal.  He tapped it a couple of times to make sure that it was metal, then something else set in, the wind, the fast wind blowing against him.  He looked around and saw his teammates clinging for dear life to the white metal, while Goemon was just crouching down on the metal with the Zantetsuken in his hand.  Beyond them he saw everything moving in a fast blur like looking out the window of a moving train.    

            Suddenly, the whole craft that Lupin and his friends were riding upon took a sharp left and continued straight upon its course.  As Lupin kept trying to hold onto the surface of whatever he landed upon, he heard a voice call out to him.

            "LUPIN!"

            The voice was gruff, unfriendly, and Lupin recognized it immediately.  Feeling the whip against his face, he turned his head to where the voice was coming from.  The wind was then whipping against the back of his head while his fingers were growing raw from clinging on for his own life.  In the direction where that gruff voice came from, Lupin saw the most unusual sight of his entire existence.  In the past, he had been involved in chases in all kinds of vehicles, cars, planes, boats, motorcycles, even on the back of a Giraffe, and a surfboard, but nothing like this.  In direction where he heard the voice, he saw…a robot.  Yes, a robot, but he had to blink twice just to make sure that all of this wasn't just some big hallucination.  He saw a dark blue painted robot flying over the streets like some kind of airplane with an enormous cannon in its right arm.  Yet, what surprised Lupin even further was the fact that clinging onto the neck of this humanoid robot was Pops, Inspector Zenigata.     

            "LUPIN!"  Zenigata shouted, "GET BACK HERE!"

            Lupin tried to answer back, "I WOULD IF I COULD!"

* * *

            The mission to Heero Yuy, who sat inside the Wing Zero, had gone smoothly.  At least until he was coming back to the rendezvous point.  It all had gone so well, like a flawless operation.  He managed to get at least one Virgo mobile doll to follow him like a fly willingly walking into a spider trap.  

            That's when it happened…he had felt a thump coming down upon him.  At least that's what he felt when some unknown force pushed down the Wing Zero.  That was when he looked in his rear-view screen and saw something come down on the Virgo mobile doll.  He couldn't see it at first, but he zoomed in upon it and saw that it was a man in a tan trench coat.  Then he heard the man say something…

            "LUPIN!  GET BACK HERE!"

            Heero reached down for his COM button to call out to his friends waiting for him at the rendezvous point.  

            "This is Preventer Perfect Soldier…"  He said somewhat grimly, "We have a problem…change of plans."

* * *

            On top of the Wing Zero, Lupin and his gang continued to hang on for dear life.  That was with the exception of Goemon who was just crouching down ready to take on whatever was going to happen next.  

            "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!"  Jigen shouted to Lupin

            Lupin the Third, a man who was said to get out of the worst situations imaginable.  Then again, the whole situation that he landed into defies even the greatest of imaginations (his included).  So, Lupin acting like his usual calm self simply smiled at Jigen, who was desperately trying to hold onto the hull of the Wing Zero with one hand and keeping his fedora on his head with the other.  

            "I'M WORKING ON IT!"  He shouted out

            In giving his answer, the Wing Zero beneath them took another sharp turn.  This time Lupin and his gang saw something up ahead…Robots…they saw giant robots…two of them.  Each was lined up like toy soldiers stacked on a store shelf while standing upon what looked like a grassy hill.  As each of the group stared they suddenly felt movement from the thing that they were riding upon.  It was a very sharp tilt that sent Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko, and Goemon down to the side of the grassy hill.  

            Zenigata who was coming up the grassy hill saw what was going on and jumped down from the robot that he was riding upon.  With his jump he came down to the side of the grassy hill just a few feet from Lupin and his gang.  He saw all of them were lying flat down on their stomachs like combat soldiers hiding in the foliage.  

            "Caught you Lupin!"  He smirked as he pulled his handcuffs from his trench coat and started to crawl over to the master thief.

            "SHH!"  Lupin ordered the inspector to be quite as he then turned his vision to the robots.  

            Zenigata was confused…but he went along with it.  He turned his attention quickly to the robots.  He witnessed one of them that was shaped and flew much like a bird.  It then transformed…it transformed right in front of Zenigata as well as Lupin and the others.  They couldn't believe what was taking place as the metallic bird then became a robot like the other six that stood on the top of the grassy hill.  It was all so frightening as well as fascinating at the same time.  None of them took their eyes off the robots as they watched what happened next.  

            The blue robot (The Virgo Mobile Doll) that Zenigata had ridden for God knows how many blocks came up to the line of robots.  The one robot that had just transformed went to its side as if it was about to draw a sword.  At least that's what they assumed since they had seen Goemon do it countless times.  Their assumptions were correct as that robot drew a sword…but it wasn't a sword.  It held only the hilt of what could be a sword, but there was no blade.  

Until something sprouted from that hilt.  It was indeed…a blade…but a blade of light.  The blade had a color that made most of them think of ripe limes or at least the color of a great Margarita.  That unbelievable machine took its blade of green light and plunged it into the blue robot where it ripped through the metal like a fork through a cheap pastry.  It all just seemed so easy to whatever was controlling that mechanical Golem.  It was also done with such prevision like an expert diamond cutter.  

As Zenigata, Lupin, and his crew had witnessed that unusual event…one of the robots turned its head.  It spooked everyone in the group, because the robot was looking in their direction.  Despite its lifeless eyes it still looked as if that metal body contained some sinister kind of soul.  Then they flashed those once gray lifeless glassy eyes flashed a sickeningly pale green color.  That was how the fear set in for all of them, but when the robot took its first giant step towards them…fear had broken into panic in the same shuddering feeling that the robot gave when its foot shook the ground beneath them.  

Thus Lupin and his crew ran…they ran…and ran until they found an open top car.  It was one of those candy apple red sports cars that young men use to "pick up chicks" or that old men buy because of their mid-life crisis.  It seemed too convenient when Lupin found the keys still in the ignition, but it didn't matter at the time.  He turned the key, hearing the loud roar of the engine as he shifted into first gear with all of his crew in their seats.  They sped off, none of them looking back.  Why would they want to look?  Unfortunately for Lupin, being the driver saw what was behind them in the rear-view mirror.  He didn't find a giant robot chasing them.  Instead he found Zenigata chasing them in what Lupin assumed as stolen, Jeep looking kind of car.  

"Come back here, Lupin!" Zenigata demanded

Lupin only smiled and whispered, "No can do, Pops."  

* * *

            Back at the grassy hill, the Preventer Gundams that had been brought in upon this operation had assessed what has just happened.  They knew that the operation that Heero had just finished went as smoothly as clean ice in a skating ring.  Until Heero had reported to Duo and Quatre that he had picked up some unexpected passengers.  

At the time Heero came to the grassy hill, he tried to drop them off as smoothly as he could.  After the defeat of the Mobile Doll, Quatre in his Sandrock had found the unexpected passengers that Heero was talking about.  He looked down at them from the Sandrock to where they landed.  A group of four men and one woman, Quatre had noticed that when all of them looked up at him, or at least until Sandrock looked down at them, they seemed to react with fear.  Quatre knew this when he saw them run away.  It seemed so unusual that they would react with such fear since everyone on Earth and in Space knows of Preventer as well as the Gundams that they have.  So, why did they run away?

"Don't leave." Quatre said

"Quatre."  Heero called out, "Go get them, we have to bring them in for questioning."

"Why is that, Heero?" Duo asked, "For all we know they're just ordinary colony citizens that didn't hear the warning to evacuate."

"Or they could be working for the man that we're trying to catch."  Heero counter-answered, "Catch them Quatre, Duo and I will take the Mobile Doll to the Preventer Station."  

"Got it."

Quatre didn't want to try and chase those people in his Sandrock, so he controlled the Gundam to kneel down as he jumped out of the cockpit.  As he ran down the grassy hill with the "suspects" fleeing several questions ran through his head.  _Who are they?  The computer couldn't identify them.  It was true, in recent years Preventer had been given a new type of identification system that could identify anything from buildings, mobile suits, space craft, and even people.  When this system would identify people, it would simply bring up things like drivers' licenses and so on, the kind of thing a police force would need to see.  Yet, when the computer tried to identify those people, there was nothing.   _

Quatre came down and decided that he had to take one of the cars.  He quickly dashed from one to the other searching for one that was unlocked and had the keys in them.  He did find one, it was just the kind of car that would be needed for such a high speed chase, a sports car.  Specifically a green Mustang, after finding it Quatre did say one thing to himself as he started it up.

"Forgive me for this."  As if the driver of the car he picked.  He quickly stepped on the gas and followed the suspects.  

* * *

            In the empty streets, Lupin and his crew were speeding along in the candy-apple red sports car.  Lupin tried to rationalize what was going on, he began to run through what had happened in what seemed to be an eternity but it was only a space of a half-hour.  At the beginning of that half-hour, he was back in that hotel in Washington D.C. celebrating the theft of the Wizards Glass.  Then as events sped up like someone hitting the fast-forward button, he was riding upon a metallic bird that transformed into a giant robot, and then racing a candy-apple red sports car through empty streets.

            "I tell you this whole thing gives me the freakin' creeps."  Jigen stated his opinion and then took one good look around the city, "Where in the hell are the people?"

            "I know."  Lupin agreed; "None of this makes sense."

            Goemon, being the most sensible of the group offered his pearls of wisdom, "They say that the Universe has a mind of its own and we may not exactly understand what its intentions are."  

            Lupin looked over his shoulder to the Jeep that was chasing them.

            "At least with Pops here," Lupin smiled, "It's sure to be a fun ride."      

            As Lupin was reminiscing about his chases with Inspector Zenigata, Jigen noticed something in the passenger side-view mirror.  It wasn't the Jeep that was chasing them, he saw another car coming up to the rear of the Jeep.  He saw a slick looking Mustang coming up awfully fast, even faster than the ride that they were in.  

            "Lupin…" Jigen said to his partner in crime, "We've got someone following us."

            "Yeah, I know that Jigen."  Lupin said in a very teenage sort of tone  

            "I don't mean Zenigata."  Jigen shook his head

            "What?" Lupin asked, but before he asked a great green blur passed up right in front of them.  Lupin was still trying to adjust to the fact of the reality that he was in but that blur snapped him back to the current situation of the chase.  He looked ahead and saw the back of a green car suddenly make a sharp turn in the road as it became a veritable barricade against the sports car that Lupin was driving.  

            "Oh mommy."  Lupin uttered as his foot slammed down on the brakes.  With the brake pads screeching against the axles, Lupin closed his eyes in the hopes that he wouldn't crash.  The red sports car that he picked up slid from left to right as it burned its tire tracks into the blacktop.  Then came the jerk backward and Lupin opened his eyes to find out that he didn't crash.  Instead, the bumper of the car he stole was only a fraction of an inch away from crashing into the passenger-side door of the green Mustang.  Lupin breathed a sigh of relief and that's when the driver came out.

            "Freeze, Preventer!"  The voice shouted out as a very handsome blonde man pulled out a gun and aimed it directly at the Lupin.  He looked out at the blonde man and was impressed in how he was cornered so quickly.  Most of the time people have a hard time just keeping up with him.  He as well as Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko saw something in his eyes.  It was a mixture of determination as well as hope.  Hope of something good that would come out.  

            Inside the car, Jigen was going for his M19 Combat Cannon, Goemon had his sword (the Zantetsuken) ready to perform its art of iai (katana fast draw), Fujiko had her hand on her Browning M1910 that sat in its thigh-holster, but Lupin just kept his hands on the steering wheel.       

            "Hold it right there!"  That gruff voice of Zenigata boomed out as the Jeep squealed to a halt.  Lupin heard him get out of the car and dash up to the side of their car, he seemed grateful to the blonde man.  "Thank you very much sir for apprehending these criminals."

            "Your all under arrest!"  The blonde man said, "By the authority of the office of Preventer."

            "Preventer?" Lupin asked himself

            "Please, don't make me kill any of you."

            "Who do you think you are, sonny?" Zenigata asked

            "I am Quatre Raberba Winner of Preventer."

* * *

            Colony L-4: Preventer Headquarters

            Indeed…Preventer had arrested Lupin, Zenigata, Fujiko, Goemon, and Jigen, they never knew why they never put up a fight.  Perhaps it was the fear that had come over them when they had seen the battles fought with those great machines.  They were unlike anything that any of them had set their eyes upon.  Despite the fact that all of them had seen some very unusual and exciting things, but how could anything that they experienced in their won world prepare them for this?  

            They were taken to a place that they no doubt knew was the headquarters for Preventer.  It was just like any police building that Lupin and the others had been to, a gray concrete building, with a very legible sign outside that read:

Preventer Office Headquarters

Colony L-4

"Colony L-4?"  Lupin had thought to himself.  This whole place…wherever it was…continued to make as little sense as anything that Lupin had encountered in his adult life.  He suddenly had a very good idea of what it must feel like to be Alice tumbling down that long, long rabbit hole into Wonderland, as he and the others were taken inside neither he nor his teammates protested.  At least no one except for Zenigata, for as he was brought to the holding areas within the Preventer Headquarters.

"I'm Inspector Zenigata of Interpol!"  He shouted as he was led down the halls, "I want to speak to the man in charge of this establishment!  Call the Interpol offices and they'll verify that I'm after this master thief, Lupin!"

Despite all the protesting that Zenigata had done he was thrown into the same cell as Lupin and the others.  But before they were thrown in, all their weapons were confiscated.  Jigen gave his gun, so did Lupin, and Goemon gave over his sword.  Though Fujiko didn't want to face a full body search, so she gave over her gun to the blonde man, who identified himself as Quatre Raberba Winner.  

As Quatre took their weapons he whispered to them, "Sorry."  As he left them in their cell.

Though from what Lupin could see, it was actually a very nice cell as far as he knew.  There were about four bunk beds in the cell, even though there were five of them.  Only Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, and Zenigata were put into that cell.  Fujiko had the cell across the hall from them.  Still they were quite nice, it wasn't like any normal cell that they had ever been in.  Instead of old iron bars, there was only plate glass with holes drilled in them.  The walls were painted white, so was the floor and ceiling.  Even the beds were very comfortable.

Fujiko, in the cell across from the boy's just lied down on her bed, while in the cell across from her, Zenigata just stood at the door hoping someone would come back and straighten out the mess.  Goemon sat on the top bunk with his legs crossed in a meditative Lotus position.  Jigen and Lupin sat across from each other thinking over what's happened.

"I tell you Lupin, this whole situation is getting to me."  He said as he reached in and took out a cigarette.  

"It doesn't make any sense to me either, Jigen."  Lupin said as he felt around his pockets.  Then something hit him, it was the very same feeling when a memory comes back in a singular flash.  Similar to that of having an important appointment, then remembering when it was and realizing that your fifteen minutes late.

"Oh, no."  Lupin said as he searched his pockets and patted himself down as if he was trying to find a weapon.  "Oh, no."  He said as he began to panic.  

Fujiko heard him as she rolled over in her bed, "What's wrong, Lupin?"  

"No!"  He said as he laid his head against the glass

"What's with you, Lupin?" Zenigata asked

"The Wizard's Glass…" Lupin answered

"What about it?" Jigen asked as he drew in a drag on his cigarette

Lupin took in a good breath and delivered the very bad news, "It's gone…" he said grimly, "The Wizard's Glass is gone…."

To be continued…


	3. The Lupin Situation

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Lupin the Third, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

**Notice to Readers:** To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required. 

**Gundam Wing and Lupin the Third**

**The Wizards Glass**

**Chapter 3: The Lupin Situation**

*****

            Lupin the Third, the master thief, he laid his head upon the glass of the holding cell that held himself and his friends (If Inspector Zenigata could be counted as a friend).  It was only about an hour ago that Lupin the Third had taken a jewel that was very valuable to him, at least it was valuable enough to win the heart (and hopefully the arms) of his love, Fujiko.  Only after coming to a place that doesn't make sense, he told his friends that the Wizards Glass was gone.

            "GONE!?"  Jigen rose out from the bunk bed and dropping his cigarette down to the concrete floor.  He then dashed across the cell to where Lupin lay, tossed him around, and grabbed him by his shoulders, "How could you loose it?!"  He snarled as he shook Lupin.

            "Calm down, Jigen."  Goemon tried to sooth the anger, "I have a good feeling that we'll be able to get out of this?"

            "GET OUT OF WHAT?"  Jigen shouted, "We came to a place through freakin' pink smoke and now we're in a place where there are giant robots out there!  How in the hell are we supposed to get out of this?"

            Goemon simply answered, "We've gotten out of worse."

            Lupin was rather devastated because of the fact that he worked very hard to get that prize just to get to Fujiko and all that work had been done for nothing.  

* * *

            As Lupin and the others were having their own discussion about the situation, the Preventers who were on duty were having their discussion about it.  All of them agreed that it seemed too strange.  There they were conducting an operation and all the colony citizens had evacuated down to the lower levels of the colony so that if any damage would happen during the operation, no civilian casualties would be incurred.  Then while the operation was going smoothly, here come five people, basically out of no where.  

            "For all we know," Duo offered, "They could just be a few colony citizens that didn't get the word about the evacuation."

            "Maybe so."  Quatre agreed half-heartedly, "But why would they jump out the window of a 60-story building?"

            Heero shook his head, "That's what's most perplexing about this."

            "Not only that, but they seem out of place."  Quatre offered, "One man was actually dressed in clothes that look very similar to what a Samurai would wear."  

            "Really?" Duo asked with intrigue

            "Yeah, he was even carrying a sword.  There was also another man who claimed that he was an officer of Interpol."

            "Interpol?" Duo asked with a very confused face

            "I've heard that name before."  Heero stated, "It's an ancient organization that existed on Earth.  They existed in the old times of the Late 20th century through the 22nd.  It was then what Preventer is now and this man claims to be a part of that organization?"

            "Yes."  Quatre answered, "He kept saying that we should call Interpol to verify who he is."  

            Duo started to twirl his finger around his head, "The guy must really have a screw-loose upstairs, if you know what I mean."

            "There was also another man who was dressed…" Quatre seemed to drift off as he searched for some kind of frame of comparison, "he was dressed…like…an old time gangster."

            "What do you mean?" Duo asked

            "I mean he had this…Dillinger look about him, with the suit, tie, and even the hat and that's not all."

            "What else, Quatre?" Heero asked

            "All of their weapons are antiques by our standards."  Quatre stated

            "What do you mean?"

            "I mean," Quatre reiterated, "The last time I saw guns like those was in a museum."

            Duo shook his head; "We really got a strange bunch this time."

Quatre then volunteered, "I'm going to go down and talk to one of them.  Maybe they are just colony citizens, let's at least hear what they have to say."

            Duo shrugged, "Ok, buddy-boy.  Let us know what you find.  In the meantime, Heero and I will head down the hangar to check out that Mobile Doll we caught."

            "Right."  Quatre smiled as he headed down to the holding cell area

* * *

            Lupin and the others heard the door open; it was the very door that they were led to that brought them to those cells.  All of them had anticipated hearing that very sound like hearing the numbers being said from a lottery ticket.  Next they heard footsteps, and that's what sparked the ever resilient Zenigata to start up his protest again.

            "I'd like to speak to the man in charge of this establishment!"  He shouted out hoping that whoever came through the door would hear him, "I am an officer of Interpol!"

            It was then that all of them saw that it was the very same man who mad the arrests upon all of them, the blonde man named Quatre Raberba Winner.  

            "Listen."  He said as he tried to calm them all down, "I am here to listen to your stories.  It does seem strange that all of you would be here despite the fact that all Colony Citizens were given explicit instructions to evacuate to the lower levels."

            "Evacuate?" Zenigata grew even more furious as his breath steamed up the glass, "I don't know what the hell your talking about, sonny.  Just call Interpol and tell them that Inspector Zenigata is here with the thief Lupin."

            Quatre came closer to the glass and spilt what Heero had told him, "Look sir."  He said calmly yet firmly, "I don't know who you are, but Interpol hasn't existed for centuries."

            "Hey, what kind of crap is that?" Zenigata refuted, "I was just at an Interpol office in Washington D.C. this morning."

            Quatre took in a deep breath in order to deal with such an infuriating individual.  He took a step back from the glass, "I'm here only to listen to what any of you have to say.  Who would like to go first?"

            "Me officer."  The sweet voice of Fujiko came out

            Quatre turned and looked at Fujiko, certainly she did look beautiful in Quatre's eyes, but he had other things on his mind.  "Very well, miss?"  He asked her implying that she would tell her name to him.

            "Oh," Fujiko smiled, "My name if Fujiko Mine."  

            Quatre turned his head towards the end of the hall, "Open number 2!"

            Fujiko did hear well enough to hear Jigen mutter, "Freakin' Fujiko."

            Fujiko stepped away from the glass instinctively and the plate glass door opened, just like the automatic doors that the supermarket have.  Fujiko stepped out and walked in front of Quatre with a little more swing in her step.  The kind of step that very subtlety swished her hips from left to right.  She then stopped just a few feet ahead of Quatre but the Preventer Officer kept a good eye on her to make sure that she didn't escape.  

            As Quatre followed Fujiko he heard a whisper, he turned to the cell at his left and saw a man in a red coat with long sideburns signal to him.  

            "Hey buddy."  He whispered, "If she says anything about us…don't believe her."

            Quatre only smiled, "I'm sure that she has a good heart."

            Quatre left Lupin and the others to go speak with Fujiko.  As he was leaving, there was a little wisp of air, like the kind of wisp when someone is trying to hold back a laugh but only a little air comes out in their effort.  When Quatre left it turned into full blown laughter from Jigen, Lupin, as well as Zenigata.

            "Oh man!"  Jigen rolled on the floor, "Fujiko…a good heart?  I think I'm about to bust a gut!"

            "That kid doesn't know what he's getting into."  Zenigata shook his head  

* * *

            Quatre had led Fujiko into a small room that had a mirror on one side of it, but Fujiko knew better as to what it was.  It was just another one of those two-way mirrors that probably had a camera behind it or someone watching them. Fujiko didn't know that there was no one behind it, aside from the recording equipment that was running, but there was no person monitoring the situation.  As with any "interrogation room" that Fujiko had been to, there was a table, a couple of chairs as well as a couple of microphones with a small overhead lamp above them.  

            "Please."  Quatre said showing Fujiko to her chair, "Sit down."

            Fujiko did so as Quatre took his seat, he had no papers, pen or any kind of report in his hands.  He was only there to listen and that's just what he intended to do in the first place.  Still Quatre's eyes did wander about Fujiko when he was walking behind her.  He did notice that subtle swing in her hips that really showed off her curves.  Quatre didn't exactly develop lustful thoughts about this woman, though he did feel a little flushed when he looked down at her body and sitting at his chair he was careful not to look down at her breasts.  He knew that if his eyes even glanced downward he would loose all respectability with her.  Quatre may have been a good man, but he was still a man and there were certain impulses that he learned from adolescence that he couldn't ignore in adulthood.  Yet, there was one feature that seemed to have struck him the most.  It wasn't her hips, legs, breasts, or any of those anonymous body parts.  It was her face.  That sweet face of hers, her eyes that seemed to sparkly despite the harsh overhead lamp, her full red lips, the long brown hair that graced the sides of her face as it made its way down to her shoulders.

            Quatre cleared his throat still feeling the slight flush in his face, "Why don't you start, Miss Fujiko."

            "Please." Fujiko asked, "Just call me Fujiko, that Miss part makes me feel older than what I am."

            Quatre smiled, "Fujiko then.  Why don't you tell me the story of how you got here."

            Fujiko looked in comical surprise, "I don't think I want to go into that kind of detail about my parents."

            Quatre gave a small giggle, "I meant what brought you here to this colony?  And why it was that you didn't evacuate with the other colony citizens."

            "I have no idea what that means."  Fujiko said with the true sincerity of her ignorance, "Let me tell you what happened."

            Fujiko poured out her story to Quatre, about who she and the others were.  As well as how she and the thief Lupin stole the valuable gem called the Wizards Glass, and how they were celebrating their victory in their room at Washington D.C.  Yet, something happened with the Wizards Glass, it sent out a solid pink color and enveloped them in pink mist or smoke.  Then with Inspector Zenigata there, they had to escape and so they jumped out the window and the next thing they knew they were watching those giant robots fighting.

            "Gundams." Quatre explained, "Those are our Gundam mobile suits."

            "Yes."  Fujiko said as she brought her story to a conclusion

            Quatre leaned back in his chair and cupped his chin, the sign of how perplexed he was about what was explained to him.  Then he muttered "It's happened again, and after all this time."         

            Fujiko leaned forward and Quatre definitely noticed how she was squeezing her breasts against her forearms as she leaned forward, "What's happened?" She asked

            Quatre got up from his seat, "I think I should call the others."          

            "Wait a minute."  Fujiko demanded very sweetly as she rose out of her chair, "Can you at least give me a clue as to what's going on here?"

            The Preventer officer took a deep breath and let it out with his explanation, "You've stepped into another universe.  That Wizard's Glass has created what we at Preventer call a 'tear'.  A rip between two worlds, specifically this one and the one you come from…and this isn't the first time that this has happened." He paused seeing the shock creep up into Fujiko's face, "Best way I can explain it, is that your no longer in Washington D.C., Fujiko.  The year is A.C. 216 and you're at Space Colony L-4."

            The shock had taken its full effect on Fujiko as she sat back down into her seat.  She didn't even have to look at where her chair was or maybe she didn't care since the strength in her legs were lost in the shock.  Was this truly real?  Was what Quatre had told her what happened to her as well as to the others?  It seemed so unreal at the time, but who was she to argue with what was real?  She had seen far too many strange and unusual things in her life, she as that time when Lupin had put on the Egyptian Death Mask and started to dance around the room in his underwear.  There was even that time when she even saw the Loch Ness Monster with her own eyes.  With all that's happened how could it not be real?  Fujiko had no answer.    

* * *

            Fujiko was brought back to her cell and as she sat back down on the bed, Jigen didn't exactly greet her with the greatest of reception.

            "You were ratting us out, right?"  He asked, "Freakin' Fujiko."

            "Cut her a break, Jigen."  Lupin pleaded as he leaned up against the glass, "What would she gain for ratting us out?"

            "Probably getting out earlier than us, for one" Jigen put out his cigarette as he light another one.  His usual chain smoking after this whole event has happened to him, especially when Fujiko gets involved with something, particularly when it involves the authorities.  Then again, Jigen was never one to trust Fujiko or women in general.  

            "I didn't rat anyone out."  Fujiko correct Jigen's assumptions as she lay down on her bed.

            "What did you tell him?"  Lupin asked

            "I told him the truth and he believed me."

            "Oh, he did?"  Lupin listened with interest

            "Yeah, he even said that this isn't the first time that this has happened."

"What hasn't happened?"  Goemon asked from his top bunk

"According to what Officer Quatre told me"  Fujiko began, "The Wizard's Glass created a tear between two worlds, specifically between the one we come from and this one, and we stepped through it."

Zenigata scoffed, "What kind of crap is that?"

Fujiko got up from her bed, "What would he gain from lying to us?"

The distrusting Zenigata raised his finger as if he was about to make some kind of profound point, but then it wouldn't come out.  He opened his mouth to voice his misplaced opinion but it wouldn't come out.  Finally he brought his finger back under his arm and went to the bed to sit down and silently pout, as most men do when their point isn't made, even more so when loosing the argument to a woman.  

"She has a point."  Lupin backed up for Fujiko, either out of his genuine love or buttering her up for later on when they would be together alone, "Why would they lie to us flat out like this?"

"They say," Goemon offered his fortune cookie advice, "That a scorpion may sting once with its bluntness, but a spider weaves many webs of deception."  

"Very trusting, Goemon."  Fujiko said as she lay back on her bed.  Secretly she wanted to get Lupin riled up if she told her that Quatre was eyeing her.  She did notice how Quatre was blushing a few times during the interrogation or rather the conversation that they had.  It wasn't exactly a secret as to where Quatre was looking then again who could blame the name with how low cut Fujiko's dress was?  Still, she kept that to herself.    

* * *

            It didn't take long for the Preventer Gundam Pilots to assemble at the Colony L-4 headquarters…well, some took a little longer than others especially since a few of them were based on Earth, but they arrived nonetheless.  Quatre, as well as Duo and Heero had explained everything up to the arrests of Lupin, Zenigata and the others.  As well as the strangeness of them all, how they just seemed…out of place.  

            Johan along with his wife Haruka and everyone else in the room agreed, "We got another batch of visitors."

            "The question is," Wufei added, "How did they all get here?"

            "From what Fujiko told me," Quatre reported, "they came here by way of a gem that's called _The Wizards Glass._"

            "The Wizards Glass?" Johan asked

            "You know of it?" Quatre asked

            "Name sounds familiar."  Johan said but then creased his brow, "but I can't quite place it."

            Trowa then stepped in, "It doesn't matter at this point, what matters is figuring out how to get them back home, we do have a serious investigation going on."

            "We nearly had found out the real mastermind behind the operations."  Duo nodded, "But the mobile doll we found was just a dummy.  It gave us no real clues."  

            "I'm sure that can wait."  Quatre offered, "But since we know that these people aren't involved, let's treat them with a little more hospitality."

            "Agreed."  

            "I'll go."  Quatre volunteered, "I'll meet you all back at the mansion."

* * *

            More than half-an-hour had passed for Lupin and the others.  Most of them had gotten moderately comfortable.  Jigen and Lupin both were smoking their cigarettes under the bunk where Goemon still sat cross-legged with his arms across his chest.  Across from them was Inspector Zenigata who had taken off his tan trench coat and made it into a makeshift pillow.  He lay his head against it and placed his hat on his face.  Across the hallway from Lupin's cell was Fujiko was resting peacefully in her cell as all of them had waited for something to happen.  

            Just then they heard the door down the hall open, immediately all of them had gotten up or at least turned their attention towards that direction as they heard a familiar voice.

            "Open Doors 1 and 2."  The voice of Quatre Raberba Winner said

            Both doors to Lupin and Fujiko's cell had opened as Quatre had walked down in front of them.  

            "We see no reason to hold any of you here."  Quatre explained, "But since you are visitors from a different universe, allow me to extend the greatest hospitality that Preventer can offer."

            Lupin took one good look around the cell, "If you treat prisoners like this, guests must be treated better than Vegas High Rollers."  

            "Please come with me."  Quatre asked, "Your weapons will be returned to you."

            Lupin and the others followed Quatre down the hall, and yes, their weapons were returned to them.  Lupin's Walther P-38, Jigen's M19 Combat Magnum, Fujiko's Browning 1910, and Goemon's Zantetsuken.  With their weapons back in hand they followed Quatre out of the Preventer headquarters where a Limousine had pulled up to the curb.  Quatre went to the side door that was closest to the rear, opened it up and said simply, please, as if he was the driver sent to open the door for the VIP guests that were to ride in it.  At first Lupin and his friends were rather confused as far as what to do, but they couldn't refuse such an invitation.  

            After they got in, Quatre followed and called out to the driver, "The Winner Mansion."

            "Yes, sir."  The driver said as the limousine pulled away from the Preventer Headquarters and traveled along the road.  

            Looking out the tinted windows, Lupin noticed that there were people.  There were people walking down the streets, into shops, with their children, and with their pets as if they had always been there.  Lupin had to make himself blink twice just to remind himself that he wasn't dreaming.  This whole place seems so odd to his eyes, especially since just an hour ago the place was as empty as a ghost town.  Now it was bustling with more activity than Manhattan Island on a weekend.  He exhaled as he sat back in his seat still looking out at the busy street.

            Lupin sat back in his seat still keeping his eyes out on the streets of the colony.

            "Hey Lupin," Jigen called in his usual playful mood (when he had them), "Why so glum?"

            "It all seems…unreal."  Lupin's voice seemed distant or cut off as if his mind was wandering into a different realm.  

            "I know how this must seem."  Quatre tried to consulate the thief, "We've seen it at Preventer many times, and we've even experienced it ourselves."

            "You mentioned something called a 'tear'."  Jigen reiterated, "What is it exactly."

            "We're not sure."  Quatre shook his head, "Their cause is unknown.  They seem to appear at random times and places.  The first was over 18 years ago and the last case was over 15 years ago.  In that time we're no closer to understanding them…there is some speculation that some other force is controlling them, be it God, fate, or something that's completely beyond our understanding."

            Then Inspector Zenigata stepped into the conversation, "And how do we get back?"

            Quatre shrugged, "That's something that I really don't know."

            "It's the Wizards Glass, I knot it."  Lupin slammed his right fist into his left palm.

            "That may be, but since you lost it."  Jigen reminded his cohort, "We can't exactly get back can we?"

            "I'll have Preventer search for the Wizard's Glass," Quatre stated with promise, "In the meantime you can make yourself at home at my mansion."  He then looked out the limo's window, "And here it is now."  

            Lupin and the others looked to find a gorgeous mansion sitting within what must have been over 12 acres of land.  It looked a little like those British "Estates" that are over 3 stories tall and sit on acres and acres of land.  They saw the windows that peered out onto the streets like the eyes of some great monster as the limo passed the iron bar gates.  The limo drove up to the enormous front door of the mansion in the u-shaped driveway that separated the steps from the luxurious fountain.  The limo door opened and Quatre stepped out allowing his guests to step out with him.  They all gazed up at the home that this man lived.

            "Welcome to the Winner Family Mansion."  Quatre introduced as if he was the bellboy.  

            "This isn't a mansion." Jigen smiled, "its freakin' Buckingham Palace."

            "And all this is yours?"  Lupin asked with great interest

            "Well there's myself, my 25 sisters as well as the servants."

            "25 sisters?" Fujiko asked in great surprise to hear such a high number, "Are they all here?"

            "Not exactly," Quatre answered, "Most of them are over seeing the resource satellites that we own."

* * *

            Colony L-4: The Winner Family Mansion

            Quatre led them through the mansion; its inside was just as luxurious as the outside.  Just like all those estates and high society places that Lupin and his crew had visited…mostly to steal something there.  Sometimes, in Lupin's case he was probably going to seduce the Madame of the house (if she was cute) and the same with Fujiko for the Master of the house.  

            That was what made the situation feel unnatural to Lupin.  He was invited…and the fact that there was nothing to steal…or maybe that he didn't want to steal anything made the whole thing feel like some bizarre and improbable dream.  Lupin couldn't help but have greedy eyes when he gazed at the inside of the Winner Mansion.  Seeing gold, marble, and other precious looking items everywhere.  Still, for the first time, Lupin didn't want to steal, perhaps it was the pure generosity that made him control his own kleptomania.  

            "Let me show you to your rooms."  Quatre said as he lead them up the red carpeted stairway under the yellow light of the chandelier.

            Each of their rooms exuberated luxury with mattresses thick and soft.  Overhead chandeliers that were made of crystals that sparkled off their yellow light, and bathrooms like no hotel that Lupin and the others (including Zenigata) have been in.  It seemed even more unreal since all of this was given purely out of compassion.

            It became so much that when Lupin was shown into his room, he walked back down the hall, passed the other rooms where his friends were.  Until, Fujiko peeked out from her room and called to him.

            "Lupin" She asked, "Where are you going?"

            Lupin had his hands in his pants pockets as he looked to Fujiko.  Normally, his look to Fujiko was a lustful one but this time his look was vastly different.  He looked…sad.  A look that Fujiko had not seen in him since…since that time long ago, at time when Lupin had thought he had "Hyde Syndrome".  In this syndrome he would turn into an insidious, vicious, murderous madman.  Thinking that there was no other way to stop the other personality, Lupin had tried to kill himself.  Until Fujiko intervened, perhaps Fujiko had deeper feelings for the cocky, brash, and perverted thief.  Yet, she was never willing to admit such a truth, but when she saw Lupin in the hall of the Winner Mansion with that look on his face, she felt…touched in some way.

            "I'm going for a walk, Fujiko." He said in a very solemn voice.

            Then, trudging down the hall with his feat beating into the floor like a heard of wild elephants came Inspector Zenigata.

            "Hey Lupin!"  He bellowed shaking his fist, "Get back here, I'm not letting you outta my sight!"

            "Let him go…" Fujiko moaned, "Just let him go."  
            "Why should I?" Zenigata asked in fury

            "He just needs to clear his head."

            Fujiko continued to stare at the direction of the stairs while Zenigata stewed in his anger.  

* * *

            Lupin walked the streets of Colony L-4 seeing people walking by and catching a few stares from people who noticed his rather "out-of-date-clothes".  But Lupin didn't care, his mind was too busy about the prospects of the world that he was in.  Could he still be a thief in such a super-advanced universe?  Or would he have to be retired at the peak of his criminal career?

            "Just great."  He thought to himself, "The Master Thief Arsene Lupin the Third disappears without a trace.  Interpol is glad to be ride of such a nuisance…what a depressing article for my reputation…I didn't even get a chance to go out with a bang."

            The streets below his feet seemed to wind and meander as if he was walking on the back of some great serpent.  As he slumped in walking down the streets he noticed a great object out of the side of his eye.  His head turned to see the cover of a model magazine called _Cosmopolitan_.  A small grin came across his face as he gazed at the face and especially the body of the model on the cover.  His thoughts went to Fujiko again and all the attempts he made to win her affection.  How ironic that it was that very same thing that brought him and the others to that world.  

            As the thief turned his gaze away from the model magazine, his sharp eyes caught the cover of Forbes magazine.  On its cover was a young man approximately in his late 20's or early 30's.  He had perfectly slicked back hair showing off a little widow's peak like those corporate criminals on Wall Street.  On that cover the caption read, "Vincent Ferer speaks about his multi-billion dollar fortune."

            Yet, it wasn't the person or the caption that caught Lupin's eye.  It was something in the background.  The background behind that billionaire was like a library with books that were undoubtedly rare and within one of those shelves was a blank spot…a gap in the books.  At first Lupin couldn't' believe it until he blinked several times and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating.  For in that gap, Arsene Lupin the Third saw something round…round and pink.  

To be continued…


	4. For Love or Money

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Lupin the Third, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

**Notice to Readers:** To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required. 

**Gundam Wing and Lupin the Third**

**The Wizards Glass**

**Chapter 4: For Love or Money**

*****

            Lupin the third dashed through the Winner family mansion like a rambunctious six-year-old with the copy of Forbes magazine in his hand.  He bounded up the stairs and flung open the doors yelling into each one, _I found it, I found it!_

            "What's all the freakin' noise about Lupin?" Jigen asked in a very grouchy voice

            "I found it!"  Lupin continued to shout while holding the magazine over his head as if it was the Stanley Cup.  He then opened the pages of it, fumbling past the cologne and beer ads.  He then came to the page that he needed and gave it over to Jigen.

            "Here, look for yourself."  He said

            Jigen was annoyed like he usually was when Lupin got in such a state like this, though normally sometimes he would be doing this whenever there was a pretty piece of ass walking around.  He looked at Lupin with a crocked eyebrow as he took the magazine and looked into it.  He was trying to search for whatever was driving Lupin up the wall and screaming that he found it.  At first, he was only reading through the articles, but that was when he looked at the bigger picture of Vincent Ferer in front of his book case with something round and pink in the background.  He held the magazine closer to his face to make sure that it wasn't something that Lupin had done to play a trick on him.  At least that's what he thought at first until he read the caption.

            "Vincent Ferer with his library and his most prized possession, the Wizard's Glass.  'I would never leave home without it' he says."  

            "I'll be damned."  Jigen uttered, "This creep has it."

            Fujiko snatched the magazine from Jigen, "Let me see that."  She looked at the magazine herself and found out that it was true; this billionaire named Vincent Ferer had the Wizard's Glass.  

            "So, this billionaire has the Wizard's Glass?" Jigen asked

            Lupin shrugged with a smile that was lost only about an hour ago, "That's the gist of it.  Now all we got to do is find out how to get it back."

            "I'm working on that."  Lupin said with great confidence in his own craft.  Then again, he had to have confidence in what he could do.  After all he's faced so much in the past, mad scientists, voodoo witch doctors, enraged policemen, and even beautiful women, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem.   

            "It is said," Goemon spun his words of wisdom, "that the fly should come to the spider and not the spider to the fly."

            "I have to disagree."  Lupin stated, "In this case we don't know this place that well, so we're going to have to improvise our tactics and go to wherever Mr. Ferer is."

            Fujiko read aloud the article, "Vincent Ferer, a self-made billionaire who claims to have been named after a saint who betrayed his best friend, made his fortune by delving into several fields, such as technology, precious metals, fuel sources, he has become so successful that it is even rumored on Wall Street that he can see into the future.  Of course, Mr. Ferer laughs at this and simply says, "I just have eyes for possibility". 

            "Of all the possessions that Mr. Ferer holds dear the one that he would never let out of his sight is a precious pink diamond sphere that is called "The Wizards Glass".  "I've gone through too much trouble to get this jewel and I'm not about to let it go."

            "What a crook."  Lupin stewed, "That jewel would have been mine this whole time.  He's a bigger thief then I am, and I don't remember him stealing it from me."

            Then a loud voice came at the door, "Hey, what's all the ruckus?"

            Lupin looked to see Inspector Zenigata, "Always one step behind, pops."  He smiled

            "What's going on here?"

            Lupin filled him in on what he had discovered.

            "Why don't we ask Preventer to get a search warrant and get the Wizard's Glass?" Zenigata asked

            "Didn't you hear what he said?" Jigen asked, "He said that he's not about to let it go."

            "So," Lupin picked up, "That means we're going to have to take it from him."

            "From who?"  Another voice came into the room.

            Lupin and the others looked to find Quatre Raberba Winner standing in the doorway.  He looked confused or at least questioning as if he had been standing in that doorway the whole time and was only waiting for the right time to step in.  So, Quatre was invited into the conspiracy to commit theft, but then he heard the name, Vincent Ferer.  The very moment that name left Lupin's lips and entered into Quatre's brain, the synapses fired and the muscles in his face stretched into surprise.  His face looked as if he had seen a ghost.  

            "Did you say…Vincent Ferer?"  Quatre asked with a dry throat

            Lupin pulled his head back in fear, "…Yeah…what about him?"

            Quatre snapped back to reality and cleared his throat, "Vincent Ferer is a man that we at Preventer have been trying to catch for the past few months.  According to what we've found out, he's not only a billionaire, he's also an arms dealer, but an arms dealer of a very sneaky type.  He's been selling out mobile suits to rebel armies all over the Earth and Colonies.  This is one of the many reasons why he's such a rich son of a bitch."

            "If he's done deeds like that," Zenigata asked, "Then why hasn't he been arrested."

            Quatre held up on finger, "One word…evidence….We don't have enough evidence to convict him.  Every time that we've come close he slips through our fingers like a bar of soap.  I just got off the phone with my co-workers Duo and Heero and they told me that the mobile suit that we caught today was one of his, I'm sure of it, but a pile of mobile suit debris is not evidence."

            "Damn bureaucrats."  Zenigata grumbled

            "We do have an idea of where he'll be."  Lupin offered, "From what we've read in the article, he's going to hold a big party on his newly constructed cruise liner, The Juliet, to celebrate his 40th Birthday.  It leaves dock from New York City in about a week."

            Quatre sighed, "I have to call in the other officers."  Quatre got up and was about to leave the room, yet the way he did it showed very subtle signs that he was on a mission.

            "What for?"  Jigen asked

            Quatre turned around and smiled, "We're going on a Black Bag mission."      

* * *

            Quatre had I indeed called in the other officers, but he didn't call in all of Preventer.  He called a good number of the Gundam pilots, like Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Wufei Chang, Johan Rodriguez, and Haruka Tenou.  He even called in some of the other members like Sally Po, and Lucrezia Noin.  He brought them all in to the Winner Family Mansion and introduced them to Lupin and his crew.  Then it was told what the situation was.    

            "So," Johan said, "After all these years, another tear has opened."

            "That's right."  Quatre continued the briefing, "And from what they've told me, they got here by way of a jewel called The Wizard's Glass, which is in possession of the very man that we're trying to capture…Vincent Ferer."  

            "You're telling us," Wufei postulated, "That we can kill two birds with one stone, if we help them get this Wizard's Glass from Vincent Ferer then we might be able to nail him on his arms dealing?"

            "Yes."  Quatre answered, "I've also found out that he's going to have a big Birthday celebration on his ship, the Juliet that leaves New York City within a week."

            "In that case" Heero got up assuming the leader role, "We're going to need some information, Duo try to find out if there's any way to get passage aboard the ship."

            "Right" Duo smiled

            "Trowa" Heero addressed the Silencer, "Get any blueprints you can on this ship, the Juliet."

            "Got it" Trowa acknowledged.  

            "Quatre see if you can find a way to create alternate identities for all of us.  No one can recognize us as Preventer officers."

            "Understood"

            "Johan work with Duo and see if there aren't any tickets then try to find a way to squeeze us on that ship."

            "I'm on it"

            "And Wufei, find out whatever you can about the security systems."

            "Sure" Wufei said in his same monotone voice.

* * *

            "An officer should never be in this kind of position."  Quatre thought to himself, "Grand Theft, Conspiracy to Commit Grand Theft, Attempted Fraud, and Fraud.  People like us should never get into situations like this, but what other choice do we have?"

            Quatre was spinning in his head about eh ethics of this kind of situation, debating and re-debating the pros and cons of it.  With every action there is an equal an opposite reaction, the most basic law of life, the universe, as well as everything else.  It became so much that Quatre actually felt ill to his stomach which was very odd since he had faced so many things before that were just as frightening when his life was on the line.  Yet…what would be at stake if the worse thing had happened in this?  They were the only police force for Earth and Space, so the only ones to judge and try their conduct for this mission would be the World Nation.  Even then Quatre thought of the worse possible scenario, being stripped of all rank and privileges as well as imprisonment.  While Quatre was working on the ID's for himself as well as the other Preventers, Lupin's crew, as well as Zenigata (Whom Quatre thought would be the Preventer Officer for this mission), he decided to put it all aside for the moment and try to clear his head.  

            Yet, he couldn't clear his head, there was something else there nagging at him like a child tugging on his sleeve, begging him to look down.  The thought that pulled at him, was the thought of that woman, Miss Fujiko Mine.  Quatre could still remember the experience of her.  Fujiko Mine in herself was an experience, the smoothness of her skin and dress, the smell of her perfume, the look on her face, and the way she moved in front of Quatre.  When those thoughts came to him he smiled, but then he felt a little embarrassed when he found out that his own body was reacting to those thoughts about Fujiko.     

            At first he couldn't explain it, the sweat in his palms, the twisting and turning in the pit of his stomach.  He had felt this once in his adolescent years, but he didn't have a clear understanding of it back then.  With time and age, Quatre knew what it was…love.  He was in love with that woman, but how is that possible?  It was only one day that he had known her or at least gotten to know her name.  

              Quatre wanted to do something, but couldn't figure out what to do, this feeling of love was just like being in a roller coaster.  The sensations are so much that its hard to concentrate on what to do next.  All that can be done is to just sit there and take whatever twists, turns, and loops that can be thrown.  Quatre thought about the traditions that had been brought about between men and women.  Such as the flowers and candy, etc, but Quatre knew that he could do so much better than that.  His thoughts about it brought his eyes to the streets in front of the Winner family mansion.  Down there he saw the little shops that had sprung around his home like how grass and flowers grow in a wet part of the forest.  He thought about the shops that were there, a few antique stores, some clothes shops (The trendy kinds that change nearly every week), and there was…

            "A jewelry store" Quatre thought to himself and just uttering what was down there on that street gave him the greatest idea that he could think of.  He knew that there was time before the launching of the Juliet, so he decided to take a little stroll into one of those shops.  

* * *

            Of course, it was a Saturday and the streets around the shops were buzzing with activity.  All the stores were open and not just with its open doors but with tables and racks of items that were on sale.  Everywhere that could be looked there were people just ready and willing to buy whatever seemed to please their eyes.  

            In all that confusion of people coming and going, buying and selling, Quatre was finding his way to the store that he was looking for.  It was a small hole-in-the-wall jewelry store, simply entitled "Flawless".  Kind of a play on of what they were hoping a really great diamond would be when they sold it.  

            Quatre walked in with the door ringing the bell to signal to the salesman of a new customer.  Quatre looked around at the pristine visage of glass cases and precious pieces of jewelry on model fingers, ring holders, and stands of all kinds to display their brilliance.  The Noble in the Desert, couldn't help but lean over the display cases and peer into the towers of jewels.  

            "What can I help you with today, sir" The owner and salesman came out to greet him.  The owners name was Hamad, a tall rather large around the waist kind of man, with a thick mustache, and beady little eyes that were set upon Quatre.    

            Quatre looked up and said, "I'm looking for a special piece of jewelry for a woman I…"

            "Ah!"  Hamad said with a wide smile, "Then I know just the piece that could do for her."

            He reached under the glass case and pulled out a small ring that had a yellow diamond crowning it.  "This would definitely please the little lady."  

            Quatre took one look at it and said, "No, I don't think so.  She's a lot more than that."

            Hamad placed the diamond back in its case, but cupped his chin trying to figure out what else he had in his inventory that could please his new customer.  He thought only for a moment and then thought of something else that could work.  He reached behind him to a case that contained a neck stand.  He gently brought out a great necklace that was intertwined must like the strands of a spiders web.  Yet, within those strands were hundreds and hundreds of little diamonds that sent off more reflections of white light and rainbows than a disco ball.  Quatre could plainly see that if a woman wore such a necklace it would stretch from the base to the very top of her neck where it meets her chin.  He looked at it for a moment and tried to imagine Fujiko in such a necklace, but it still didn't feel right.  So, Quatre only shook his head.  

            Hamad placed it back in its case, but scratched his head in confusion about what can please this rather difficult customer.  Most of the people that would come into his store would love nearly every single piece that he had, as if each one had a spell upon it that made its future owner love it.  Then again, from what Hamad saw in his store, women think about diamonds much like how men think about sex, and in the same way leeches think about blood.  Yet, this man seemed to have a glint in his eye when he mentioned this woman, the kind of glint that told him that something very, very special must be used for this occasion.  He leaned over to Quatre making sure that there was no one else in the store and that no one else was going to come in.

            "Um…" Hamad started rather sloppily, "Sir?"  He wanted to know his name

            "Quatre" He started, "Quatre Raberba Winner."

            Hamad gave Quatre a very odd look, he knew about the Winner family but he never dreamed that one would walk into his humble little shop and try to find a very special piece.  Yet, in the back of his mind there was something that he had in the shop ever since his father had it.  He bent down underneath all the glass cases and pulled out a small metal box.  Looking at it Hamad took in one deep breath and blew off the dust from it dampening himself in a cloud of its dirty tickling on his skin and in his nose.  Enough to make him sneeze but he held it in as hard as he could.  Then came back up and set the dusty metallic box upon the clean glass, reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key to open the box.  

            Quatre watched with great interest of what the treasure may be inside.  Wondering what great piece of jewelry may be pulled out by Hamad's great hands.  He watched as the jeweler brought out a small piece of cloth that was wrapping something within it.  Hamad held out his hand and flung back one flap of the cloth showing something that Quatre had never in his wildest imaginations could have seen.  Upon the cloth that was supported by Hamad's gentle hand, Quatre saw a flower, a jeweled rose.  

            Quatre gazed at it, seeing the red petals give off their shimmer.  Quatre gaze at its beauty, he knew immediately what pieces were in it.  He saw creamy jade for the stem of the rose and emeralds lined with gold along their edges for the leaves.  Then there was the rose bud itself, its leaves all crafted from rubies.  Each petal concealing the greatest crown that the rose had, for within the grasp of the ruby petals there was a diamond, a canary yellow diamond as the great nectar center of the rose.  

            "Incredible."  Quatre uttered

            "This is the Ruby Rose."  Hamad said, "Passed down from my family for generations, it was said to have been made for an Arabian Prince as a dowry for his marriage to his first wife.  Yet, the marriage ended in tragedy when she died in child-birth.  This Rose was all that the prince had to remember her by.  In his broken heart, he gave it back to the man who made it, a poor craftsman who worked for weeks to make this rose.  Buying, begging, bartering, and even stealing for the materials that went into it.  The stories of this rose are highly abound, but my family only wanted to sell this rose to someone who had love in his heart for the woman he gave it to.  I see that look in your eyes, young Quatre Raberba Winner.  Give this rose to the woman that you've fallen in love with."

            "I shall."  Quatre said, his voice sounding as love-stricken as ever, "How much for it?"

            Hamad whispered, "Nothing."

            Quatre gave Hamad a confused look

            The jeweler took the cloth that had the rose in it and gently placed it into Quatre's hands.  

            "May this rose bring the two of you closer" Hamad said with a smile under his thick mustache, "Go now."

            Quatre left the shop back to the bustle of the busy Saturday shopping with confusion in his mind and the Ruby Rose in his hand.  

* * *

            Quatre came back to the Winner Family Mansion, carefully making sure that he didn't drop or crush the Ruby Rose as if it was as fragile as an egg.  Yet, walking down the streets and up the walkway to the mansion seemed like a walk to reason what had just happened.  Why had the jeweler given Quatre such an extravagant piece?  Especially since Quatre was rich, he wouldn't exactly deny that, he was a rather rich person.  Especially considering how much of the resource satellites controlled by his family, so it does stand to reason that he's wealthy beyond a doubt.  He could have easily paid the price that the jeweler might have asked for, but instead it was given to him as if it was a birthday present.  

            As Quatre came to the front door of his mansion, a voice called out to him.  A voice that he hadn't heard in a very long time, a sweet, yet somehow very sinister voice, and Quatre looked.  At the doorstep of his mansion, he found Dorothy Catalonia.  She had grown up in the past 15 years, both up and out as most women do.  Even with the looks that Dorothy had acquired and tried to upkeep with time, she still had that feeling of her sinister ways.  Both in the dullness of her blue eyes as well as the forked eyebrows above them like twin V's laying on their sides.  

            "Quatre Raberba Winner" She said as she brushed away one strand of her very long blonde hair.  

            "Hello, Dorothy."  Quatre said, with a certain grimace in the back of his mind, then again who could blame Quatre?  This was a girl that over 20 years ago had stabbed Quatre with a sharpened fencing foil.  Quatre still had the scar from it, each time he would bathe or shower he could see that scar, a permanent reminder of the things that Dorothy had done to him.  Despite that, he did have feelings for her once, but that was then and that time he had that rose in his hands was something altogether different.  

            "What do you have there?"  She asked daintily pointing at the cloth in Quatre's hands.

            "It's a gift."

            "For me?" Dorothy asked implying innocently to herself

            "No, this is for someone that I met."  Quatre explained, "A very special woman named Fujiko Mine."

            "Fujiko…" Dorothy's voice took a drastic one-hundred-eighty degree turn and went straight for being disgusted at the sound of the name, "…Mine."  

            Dorothy had only arrived at the mansion recently and had met the Lupin crew that had arrived from the other universe.  Needless to say all of Lupin's crew felt very creepy about looking at Dorothy much less being around her and speaking to her.  Even Fujiko felt the sinister vibe that Dorothy gave off from both the discussions she picked and the look in her face, that expression that she always had something evil planned.  Yet, Dorothy on the other hand had a different feeling from the Lupin crew, especially Fujiko.  Just looking at how she was dressed in how high her hem was and how low the cut in her collar was.  To Dorothy, Fujiko looked like a street walker and she wasn't silent about voicing this to Quatre.  

            "If it's some kind of jewelry," She started, "I wouldn't give it to her.  She's just a harlot, a whore, a gold-digger, and a filthy slut.  She's only after you money, I hope you realize that."  Her tone sounding so matter-of-factly, "I've seen her kind everywhere on street corners selling their bodies like commodities.  She looks like she could fit in with them."

            Those hurtful comments that Dorothy had made about Fujiko made Quatre angry inside, but he had something else to say about this.  "You can't stand her can you?"  He asked.

            "I don't know what you mean."  She tried to sound innocent again, "I'm simply stating a fact that she can never feel anything for you because of how big your wallet is and not by your heart."

            "You're just jealous."  Quatre came back

            "Jealous?"  Dorothy asked, "How could I be so jealous of a cheap dressing slut like her?"

            "You're jealous because I love her."

            There was silence, but within the eyes of the sinister Dorothy Catalonia, Quatre knew that he had struck a very deep chord with her.  He could almost see some pooling of tears in those wretchedly cold eyes.  

            "I want her and not you."  Quatre rebutted, "And that's driving you mad."  

            Quatre walked into the Winner Family Mansion leaving Dorothy Catalonia to stew in what he knew to be her own jealousy.  It's true that Dorothy was never like the really sappy romantic types that have to say "I love you" every five minutes.  On the other hand, some of Quatre's friends had wondered if Dorothy was even capable of feeling love in the first place.  Quatre, usually being his trusting self, would say that Dorothy can feel love but chooses to ignore it like how many choose to ignore things that are unpleasant to them.  

* * *

            It was time for it, Quatre had come up to Fujiko's door.  He held the piece of cloth that concealed the Ruby Rose within it as he used his other hand to knock on the door.  His heart raced like mad as he waited for a positive reply from the other side.  He swallowed several times and he also cleared his throat to make sure that he wouldn't choke when he spoke to her.  

            "Come in."  Fujiko's sweet voice rang out from behind the solid wood door.

            Quatre took the knob and turned it his mind racing like cars at the Indi-500 with thoughts of what Fujiko could be doing in her room.  She could be in there in her slip, or she could be in the bath tub, getting out and wrapping herself in a towel to be somewhat respectable.  He brushed off such thoughts and stepped into the room.  

            He looked around the room and found Fujiko lying down on the bed with her hands behind her head.  She lounged as she looked up at Quatre with one hand behind his back like an adolescent boy ready to present his future girlfriend with flowers hoping to get started on the right foot.

            "Why Quatre" Fujiko said as she brought herself onto her elbows to look up at the young man, "What can I do for you?"  

            The Noble in the Desert already started to feel his palms start to sweat again.  He even felt little droplets of sweat starting to build up upon his forehead.  Desperately he wanted to reach up and brush them away but he couldn't allow himself to look foolish and get everything started on the wrong foot.  To him it was a social minefield; one misstep could mean utter disaster for his efforts.  

            "I…" Quatre felt his throat already becoming dry as he looked down at Fujiko's body.  It seemed even more erotic since she was lying down on the bed, "I wanted…to give you something."

            Fujiko sat up fully on the bed, her legs hanging over the edge as she brought herself closer to Quatre.  Still, she was careful not to push the hem of her dress so far up that Quatre could get a good look at her panties.  

            "A present?" She asked, but then again she was expecting one of the Gundam pilots to bring her a gift of some sort.  Many men have done the same thing, bringing her diamond rings, necklaces, mink coats, beautiful dresses, and all sorts of wonderful things all for her.  She did wait in anticipation for what Quatre had for her.

            "Here."  Quatre said as he brought the cloth covered present out from behind his back.  He held it out to Fujiko, who looked at the cloth with some confusion.  To her, it looked tattered, dirty with dust smudges upon it and God knows what other stains are there.  

She reached out with both hands and took the cloth, and then pulled away at the cloth carefully as if she unintentionally wanted to prolong the surprise.  She never expected anything like what she saw when she pulled away the last flap of cloth and gazed upon the Ruby Rose.  Her eyes widened with surprise and her jaw loosened.  It truly was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen in her life.  Nothing in her past scams, robberies, or thefts had compared to the surprise and visual ecstasy that she felt when she looked at it.  She then looked up at Quatre Raberba Winner, a Gundam Pilot.  

"It's beautiful."  She uttered as she gently cradled the Ruby Rose in her hands under the cloth.  "Why do you want to give this to me?"

Quatre saw his opportunity, he felt his mind slip for a moment as if all the speeches that he had practiced in his mind on the way to her room were suddenly gone and he was desperately trying to regain them.

"It's time for only your heart to speak."  Quatre's calmer mind had told him, "Sit down next to her and tell her what's in your heart."

Quatre did what his calm rational voice had told him, he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Fujiko.  He looked at the Ruby Rose sitting in Fujiko's hands and he looked up to Fujiko's face and looked deeply into her eyes behind those bangs of long brown hair.  

"I brought this gift to you" Quatre began, "Because…"  He trailed for a moment, he tried to grasp at the most convincing reason that he could think of.

Fujiko wanted to know the reason, "Because?" She asked

Quatre started up again, "I know that it has only been a couple of days, but in that time that I've gotten to know you, it has been…happy."  He tried to keep eye contact with Fujiko when he spoke his words from the heart, "I think I may have fallen in love with you."

Fujiko wasn't exactly surprised by what Quatre had told her, many men have come to her bearing those expensive and extravagant gifts to her, all of them saying that they loved her, but Fujiko knew better.  She knew above all else what those men, those dirty old men wanted from her.  Just a little piece of Fujiko's action under her dress, that's all they wanted, but something felt different about this, still she had to ask out of honest since she wasn't seducing Quatre for his money.

"What is it that you expect in return?" She asked calmly, "For me to come to bed?"

Quatre smiled, "No."

The real surprise had fallen upon Fujiko, Quatre did not want any piece of Fujiko's action, that he actually said no to going to bed with her.  Of all the seductions that Fujiko had played and of all the objects of lust and affection she had been, this one threw her for the greatest loop of all.  

"Then what?" she asked

Quatre continued to speak from his own heart, "I just want to be near you."  He said as he moved himself closer to Fujiko, "I want to be near you, to allow all my senses to know you, to see your face, to smell your perfume, and to touch your soft skin.  The very vision of you to me is intoxicating and I don't just want one night."

This was the biggest surprise that Fujiko had received in the space of only a few minutes.  First she receives a present that's beyond all what her eyes had ever seen and in the same moment a man didn't want to go to bed with her.  He only wanted to be near her.  It seemed so ironic that she had dealt with so many dirty old men and young perverts, including Lupin, and she was being worshiped by a pure heart.  She couldn't resist as she reached up to touch Quatre's face and leaned in to place a soft kiss upon his lips.  Quatre returned Fujiko's kiss.  Fujiko loved his kissing, it was soft and gentle against her skin.  If he didn't want to go to bed with her, it was the least that she could do for him for such wonderful gifts that were beyond all price.      

* * *

            One Week Later…

            New York City:  The New York Harbor

             The day was bright and sunny, the seagulls called out as they flew high above the great cruise liner, the Juliet.  It truly was an enormous ship, bigger than any ship that had been built before it.  The things that were inside were the very features that made this ship better and greater than any in any fleet on Earth.  It seemed almost unfathomable that any one man would have the money or the resources to build it, but the evidence was there sitting in water displacing vast amounts of water equal to its enormous mass.  At its port, the boarding for each passenger were already starting.  In fact it was a little smoother than most luxury liners.  It was more like the boarding for first class passengers upon an airplane, just smooth as ice.  

            The boarding officer looked at the boarding pass for his next passenger.  Everything had checked out, and he saw that this passenger was a V.I.P. and of course the treatment for VIP's is always treat them like royalty.  

            "Welcome aboard the Juliet, Mr.…?"  He trailed off hoping that his passenger would fill in the blank.

            "Mr. Arsene Lupin the 3rd."  The passenger said as he took his ticket and went aboard.  

To be continued…


	5. The Good Ship Juliet

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Lupin the Third, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

**Notice to Readers:** To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required. 

**Gundam Wing and Lupin the Third**

**The Wizards Glass**

**Chapter 5: The Good Ship Juliet**

*****

            Upon the good ship, Juliet, all of the passengers had already boarded and had gone through the regular safety drills.  The kind that they do before even setting one inch of its bow to sea, where they assign each person to a station where they can get on a life boat, if (God forbid) something happened and they needed to abandon ship.  

            After all that, there was someone who was taking a small tour of the map that showed what was on the ship, deck by deck.  Jigen hunched over the touch screen panel, smoking his pipe, and tilting his hat up.

            "Let's see what this boat has."  He murmured as he went through the selection menu at the side of the screen.  He pressed each button one after the other, Pool, Restaurant, Bar, Casino, Dance Halls, Golf Courses, Multiplex Theaters, Arcades, and so on.  He watched with wide eyes as the model ship in the center of the screen had given away, like opening a fortune cookie to find that slip of paper inside.  The model ship had broken away to its respective deck that Jigen wanted to see where the pools, restaurants, casinos, and so on were.  Yet, it wasn't as plain, dull and flat like the floor plans for an architect, as Jigen looked at each deck; it looked like the actual deck of the ship that had its roof ripped off like a doll house for him to look in.  

            "I'll be damned" Jigen said to himself, "This place is freakin' amazing, its Déjà vu all over again."

            It was true, there was something in the past for Jigen, and the rest of the Lupin crew that was very much like that situation.  It was a long time ago, when the group had separated for five years, and then for some reason an invitation by Lupin brought them all together on a luxurious vessel.  A place that Jigen commented as, "This isn't a boat, it's freakin' Las Vegas with Sea Gulls, so I say let the good times roll on".  Yet, it wasn't Lupin that sent that invitation out for that reunion, it was sent by the man who built the boat who had a grudge against Lupin and was determined to settle the score.  Feeling the Déjà vu, Jigen only smiled and said the exact same thing to himself again, "Let the good times roll on" as he left the map and went to search for the crew.  

* * *

            Deep within the good ship, Juliet, there was a man who was overseeing what was going on his ship.  He sat in his chair looking at a wall of monitors that were all black and white showing off what they were seeing from the cameras that they were connected to.  His light blue eyes that were drowned out by the white glare of the monitors were like that of a man trying to keep his eye on a fly, darting back and forth and all around the wall of monitors.  He reached up to scratch an itch upon his scalp under his light blonde hair that was slicked back to show the widows peaks as well as give away the rough shape of his head underneath.  This was the man that Lupin had found on the cover of that magazine…Vincent Ferer.  

            One of his men came up from behind him and called, "Mr. Ferer."

            "Yes?"  Vincent said with a sinister subtlety to his voice, much like how Hannibal Lecter spoke when he stared into the souls of everyone he met.  

            "There's a man from Preventer asking to see you."

            "Who is it?"  

            "He said his name is Officer Zenigata and he says that he must speak with you upon a matter of great urgency."  

            "Very well" Vincent said as he got up from his chair to go meet the man that he was bothered about, but then again staring at those monitors was already beginning to feel a little boring to him.  The only parts that caught his interest were watching the girls in bikini's go to the many swimming pools on the ship.  

            Eventually, Vincent had been brought to one of the many offices that he had where the good officer waited.  To Vincent, the way that the man dressed seemed a little off to him.  Almost as if his clothes were straight from another era, but still had something connected to the present.  He looked up and down at the officer, at his tan trench coat, his brown suit, as well as his brown fedora.  

            "Officer Zenigata?"  Vincent asked as he sat down in his desk in front of him.

            "Yes."  Zenigata said giving him a good salute, "I'm sure that you've been told that I'm here from the Office of Preventer."

            "Yes."  Vincent complied, "What can I do for you, Officer?"

            "I have been sent here because I have it on good authority that there's a thief onboard this ship.  A notorious thief that I've been chasing after most of my career, a man named Lupin the 3rd, I came here to search for him and I've found out that he's a passenger on this ship."

            "If that's the case," Vincent pointed out, "then there's no crime for coming on board my ship, unless pleasure has become illegal in our peaceful lives."

            "I'm not concerned about that."  Zenigata too the defensive, "I've been sent here to keep an eye on him to make sure that he doesn't try anything funny."  He reached into his tan trench coat and took out a small piece of paper and handed it to Vincent, who took the paper and read it.  He then handed it back to Zenigata.

            "So," Vincent stated, "I should give you my full cooperation or your office will not allow us to leave dock."        

            "That's right, Bub."  Zenigata said with the true grit of an old gumshoe in his voice, "I'm gonna catch Lupin red handed if it's the last thing I do."

            Vincent smiled thinly like a man trying to hide his excitement at the poker table with a great set of cards in his hand, "I admire your dedication, Officer.  In that case, all my security and man power is at your disposal whenever you see fit that Lupin should strike."  

            "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Ferer."  Zenigata gave one last salute as he left the room.  

* * *

            Elsewhere upon the good ship Juliet, there was a small gathering for game of the year.  It was upon the overlook deck that viewed out over the ships bow.  There were tens, if not hundreds of tables, chairs, benches, and lounge chairs set up there for the passengers that just wanted to get a sun tan or just wanted to look out at the ocean as they were leaving New York Harbor.  

Sitting in one small corner of the overlook deck was Fujiko Mine, who was lying there in her very risqué bikini that probably left very little to the imagination.  Next to her was Goemon who sat cross-legged in his lounge chair listening to the radio.  Then there was Lupin the 3rd who had his sunglasses on and admired the view, of course it wasn't the view over the bow of the ship, more like the view that was lying next to him.  

Though Lupin was rather distracted when he spoke with Fujiko before leaving to board the Juliet, she seemed taken aback by something, but Lupin could not figure it out at first.  Then he saw the Ruby Rose upon Fujiko's dress.  He also remembered, very distinctly the look that she gave that man, Quatre Raberba Winner.  It was the kind of look that he had never seen Fujiko give, not even to him, the look that she was in love.  He tried to shake it off by telling himself that he had to get back the Wizards Glass if he and the others were to go home.  ON the other hand, he thought, what's the point in going home if I still can't have Fujiko?  

"Hey everyone" Jigen called out as he approached the rest of the Lupin crew, "Looks like we all got here without any suspicion."

"Yeah" Lupin smiled, "And hopefully everything will go according to plan."      

            One by one, the rest of the team had arrived upon the boat, each of them under a different name.  That was all part of the plan, that the officers of Prevetner use a different name so that they may not be under any suspicion by the Juliet's security as well as to throw off Vincent Ferer.  

            Heero Yuy had chosen an old name that he was given when he was just a little boy, Odin Lowe Jr.  While Duo Maxwell had chosen the name of Han Solo, of course there were several people in Preventer who laughed at his choice of name but he went with it for reasons that escape the logic of all the other Preventer officers.  Then Trowa Barton decided upon the name of Triton Bloom, Quatre took the name of William Thatcher, Wufei used the name of Lei Long, and Johan decided upon the name Armand Banderas, and Haruka took the name of Megumi Hayashi.  They had all assembled upon the overlook deck and reviewed what had to be done next.  And it involved an invitation to all VIP passengers to a private dinner with their host, Vincent Ferer.   

* * *

            Soon night had come over the good ship Juliet, the sun setting into the ocean like a ball of fire sinking into the vast Atlantic.  Sending out its beautiful waves of yellow, orange, red as its desperate pull to hold onto the light while the violet blue and black closed in on it to push it back into the sea.  Pulling behind the violet blue and black were the stars that speckled the sky like diamonds that were thrown up there by some great Titan in a task to prove himself to the Gods.  

            Inside the Juliet, the real task worthy of any Greek hero was about to begin.  The ship buzzed with activity and thumped with the bass of the music that fueled the nightlife.  One such place where the fun of the night had begun was within the private dinning hall called, "The Oak Room".  It wasn't named that purely to distinguish itself from the other rooms onboard the ship.  It truly was a room that had true oak nailed (or whatever construction was used) to the walls.  Even the tables themselves were made out of solid oak and polished to a glossy shine.  

            The room itself was square, with tables strategically placed like carefully played chess pieces, while above them there was the balcony floor.  It was much like the balconies that are put into the old theaters or opera houses to bring in more people for the show.  Upon the Balcony Floor there were some more solid oak tables for people to look down upon the stage set at the head of the square, yet elegant dinning hall.  In the center of this great dining hall was also a great wooden tiled dancing floor waiting for feet to step upon it like a new seat waiting to be sat upon.  

At one of the luxurious tables on the balcony was Lupin the 3rd and his crew along with the others from Preventer who looked out at the stage as the show was about to begin.      

            "Ladies and Gentlemen" a deep voice introduced over the speakers, "The S.S. Juliet is proud to present, your cruise director, the very talented, Mr. Gill Goldwin!"

            "Thank you!"  A new younger sounding voice modestly accepted his introduction and out came Mr. Goldwin in his white tuxedo.  "First of all, let me welcome you all to the maiden voyage of the S.S. Juliet and to introduce to you, the man behind it all.  The man that has been called by Forbes Magazine one of the richest men in the world, please a warm round of applause for the man of the hour, Mr. Vincent Ferer."

            The whole room buzzed with applause as a man dressed in a black tuxedo got up from one of the tables in the front row and approached the stage.  As he climbed up the stage, Lupin and the others all looked at him like how hawks set their sights on their prey.  The sight was set and they knew that the first part of the plan had to be set into motion very soon.  Though some members of Preventer did grow a certain disgust when they saw Vincent smile from the stage.  

            "Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen."  He humbly took the stage, "Today, I turn 40 years old.  I have lived a life filled with great riches beyond all what men could ever dream to achieve in their entire lives.  This ship is the jewel in my fortunes, it will be an example of how an ocean cruise should always be…enjoyable.  So, I encourage all of you to enjoy everything…within reason."  

            The hall laughed with him.

            "Now, I have the distinct privilege to begin the evening with the singing of our cruise director, Mr. Gill Goldwin."  He passed the microphone to his cruise director like a master conductor passing the baton to his apprentice, "Mr. Goldwin, may the fun begin."

            "Thank you, Mr. Ferer, and now ladies and gentlemen please grab your partner and get ready…to...Rum…ba…"  

            The music began, it was like a soft tango with the guitars as well as an accordion within the band behind Goldwin.  They played and the man sang, his singing may have been enjoyable to some but to those sitting at that special table in the balcony, they had heard better on street corners.  Yet, that wasn't their concern, there was something more important to do.  

            Lupin watched as Vincent took his seat at the table in the front row.  He then leaned over to Fujiko,

            "Alright, Fuji-cakes" He whispered to her, "The stage is yours."  

            Fujiko took the hint and got up from the table, left the company of Lupin, and the others.  She walked down in her silken dress that had thousands if not millions of sequences embroidered into it that shined when ever she moved.  Each one seemed to accent her body as if saying "look here, look here."  She wore her favorite perfume of Chanel no. 5 and as she approached the stairs she looked at herself in her compact to make sure that she was extra seductive for the target.  She came down the steps that connected the balcony floor to the main hall where people have already begun their conversations at their tables, while others had chosen their partners for the dance floor.  In the dim light of the dancing and the thumping of the band playing Fujiko had found her way to the table where sat Vincent Ferer.  She knew exactly what she was doing, it was only something that she had done dozens if not hundreds of times in the past.  A big corporate individual like him shouldn't be that much different, after all most men with power do go after women of all kinds.  

            Closing in upon Vincent and seeing his face Fujiko opened the dialogue, "Excuse me…Mr. Ferer?"

            Fujiko watched in the low light of the dining hall as Vincent Ferer looked up at her, she knew that Vincent must have heard her despite the loud thump of the music.  She looked at him with his slicked back hair shinned with whatever oil that he rubbed into it earlier that evening.  Even with the low light, his eyes looked beady and cold to Fujiko.  He seemed even more sinister when he smiled at her, it wasn't gentle like Quatre's or even a cocky grin like Lupin's.  It was just…sinister.  He stood up from his table and leaned in towards Fujiko bringing his lips closer to her ear.  

            "What can I do for you, Miss?"  He asked, his voice carrying over the thump and smooth rhythm of the tango.  

            "Would you like to dance?"  Fujiko asked returning the whisper into Vincent's ear

            "I'd be delighted to."   

* * *

            Back on the balcony floor of the Oak Room, Lupin and his crew along with the Preventers looked down as Fujiko took Vincent to the dance floor.  Lupin knew for a fact that Fujiko would defiantly do her best to get to that corporate criminal.  As for the Preventers…they had never seen Fujiko at work, or at least the kind of work that she was well known for among Lupin's crew.  It was apparent that they were worried if this part of the plan would go as smoothly as Lupin had boasted.  

            "I am concerned about her."  Quatre voiced

            "Hey, don't worry about it."  Lupin reassured him, "Fujiko's a pro when it comes to this sort of thing."  
            "I never thought that a woman would be sent for this kind of job."  Wufei spoke out

            "It is said that the female of the species is more deadly than male."  Goemon spun more of his pearls of wisdom like a Zen Master.

            "Rudyard Kipling."  Johan said

            "Who?" his wife Haruka asked

            "Kipling, the author of the Jungle Book once said that the female of the species is more deadly than male."

            "I find that hard to believe."  Wufei held onto his chauvinistic belief

            This was something that bonded Wufei to Jigen, at least on the level where women are concerned.  Then again Lupin crew had gotten to know as well as come to regard them as friends.  Such as another case with Jigen and the Silencer, Trowa Barton, the two of them were such great sharp shooters as well as experts in guns.  They also had the implied belief that sometimes actions are greater than what words can do.  It seemed like such a great bond between the two of them that it almost seemed like Jigen could regard Trowa Barton as a son, or even a brother.  

            The very same thing could be said about both Wufei and Goemon, during the time that the planning of the mission and boarding the ship those two were like peanut butter and chocolate.  Both such great martial artists as well as swordsmen, the only thing that differed between them were their egos.  Goemon was a little more humble than Wufei, especially when it came to women.  Despite the fact that Goemon had practiced celibacy ever since he started the path of being a great swordsman, all in all Wufei had great respect for Goemon, especially after a small spar that they had.  The two of them had their swords ready and the spar was over within a matter of seconds, of course Goemon was the winner with such a sword as the Zantetsuken.  That sword was what surprised Wufei more than anything else; to see a sword slice through his as if it was a candle.  

            With Lupin, he had come to have a small liking to Duo Maxwell, mostly because he (as well as Johan) could afford to have a sense of humor even in the smallest way.  Lupin did like Johan as well as his wife Haruka.  He had to admire their own happiness within each other, they had the kind of relationship that he wish that he could have with Fujiko.  He even got to see a picture of Johan and Haruka's children…Julia and Leto.  HE found out about the children of all the Preventers, how wonderful they were, as well as what they did during one special time.  Hearing the stories of how the children of the Preventers took up arms and mobile suits in order to take revenge for their parents suffering.  Lupin felt something stir within him in hearing that, how could children take on such a dangerous task, he wondered.  He even found out the truth about how old the original Gundam pilots were during Operation Meteor, like father like sons and daughters.  On the other hand, God only knows how old Lupin was when he committed his first great theft.  

            Within the thump and arousing sounds of the tango, Fujiko worked her great craft of alluring men.  Despite how cold and unfeeling Vincent seemed to her, she had confidence in her lure.  She had danced with Vincent for only a few minutes and she could feel his hands make small advancements down her back and to her ass.  Until she went along with it and allowed him to get a small feel of her curvaceous body, but she took it one step further.  

            She leaned into Vincent and whispered, "Why don't we find someplace more quiet for that sort of thing?"

            Vincent didn't respond…but only reacted.  He took Fujiko by the hand, lead her off the dance floor, and out of the Oak Room.  

            "And there she goes."  Lupin smiled, "I told you that she could do it."  

* * *

            Inside one of the private elevators, Fujiko had her arms wrapped around Vincent while she pressed her lips against his as well as her body, wrapping one leg around him.  Kissing him deeply while Vincent's hands groped Fujiko's body, she felt his tongue pushing into her mouth, and she tried to go along with it, but this man felt a little different than the rest.  She could feel, both on her skin that Vincent was groping and within her how much Vincent wanted her in his bed.  Still, there was that feeling at the back of her mind like someone far away calling her name that something was very wrong about it.  The first strong feeling that she got while "being" with Vincent was how cold he was.  It wasn't just in his beady eyes; it was also his hands that were like a gynecologist…icy from washing too much in cold water.  Then there was his kiss, the way he kissed, it was as if he was eating Fujiko alive, and his tongue was like an ice cube from a cold drink.  But his kiss…it was so rough in that eating sensation…it wasn't gentle or sweet like Lupin's…or even…Quatre's.  

            "No."  Fujiko thought as she continued to go along with Vincent's deviant behavior of his eating like kisses and icy cold groping, "I have a job to do…I will see it through to the end…they're counting on me."

            She looked out of the corner of one eye while Vincent was kissing her hard and looked down to the elevator button panel.  As with all elevators all the decks had their names and numbers next to their respective buttons.  All except one…it was the "Reclusive Deck" or Deck #13, instead of a button next to that name there was a key hole.  Into that very key hole was the key that Vincent had taken out of his coat pocket when Fujiko suggested that they go somewhere more private for what they were about to do.  

            Fujiko knew that it would be there on that deck where Lupin would do a job that could determine the question of if they will ever get home.  She continued to endure Vincent's kissing and groping by reminding herself, "They're counting on me, Goemon…Jigen…and Lupin…they're counting on me to get home…"

To be continued…


	6. Theft on the High Sea

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Lupin the Third, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

**Notice to Readers:** To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required. 

**Gundam Wing and Lupin the Third**

**The Wizards Glass**

**Chapter 6: Theft on the ****High********Sea******

*****

            "I really am worried about Miss Fujiko."  Quatre said as he paced back and forth in the suite while frequently glancing at his watch.  He had been doing this for the past forty-five minutes or so.  Just pacing and looking at his watch while the others were sitting around him.  Though they weren't as nervous as the Noble in the Desert, for Lupin sitting in one of the many comfortable chairs had his greatest poker face on.  Or maybe it was just because he had more experience with Fujiko…working with her…and on her.  Jigen was lying back on one of the couches and Goemon was leaning against one of the walls with his Zantetsuken at his side.  The other pilots were waiting patiently, except for Quatre who was being as impatient as a drug addict waiting for his next hit.  

He kept thinking of the exact time that Fujiko had left the dance floor of the Oak Room with that corporate criminal on her arm.  He looked at his watch yet again and thought back to when it was…the time she left was 7:45…looking at the watches face it was already 8:30.  The muscles within his stomach were already beginning to tighten like someone hoping that their lottery numbers would be announced.  In his heart he wished that he could do something, go down to wherever Fujiko had gone and save her.  The very thought of bursting into the room and seeing that disgusting man Vincent try to have his way with Fujiko would make Quatre beat him just for Fujiko.  Then carry her off the ship to a place where they could be alone.  Internally his mind was filled with romance until he brought himself back by bringing up his wrist to look at his watch.

"Would you freakin' relax kid."  Jigen snarled from the couch while still having his hat over his eyes.

"I can't help it."  Quatre said with a little remorse in his voice almost as if he regretted that Fujiko had to take on such a dangerous task, "She's been gone for forty-five minutes.  What if something's happened to her?"

"I wouldn't worry about it."  Lupin shrugged, "Fujiko's a big girl, and she's gotten out of worse situations….of course with a little help from a thief."     

"But she's down there all by…"

The doorknob to the room was shaking a little bit and there was also a little rustling coming from behind it.  Obviously someone outside was trying to look for the key to get it or at least try to use it.  The Lupin crew already knew who it was that was going to come though that door but the Preventers had other expectations, each of them tensed up for a moment ready to fight.  Then the door opened and in walked Fujiko Mine.  

"Finally."  She said as she leaned against the closing door, "I thought that I'd never get out of there."  

"What happened, Miss Fujiko?"  Quatre asked

"Let me breathe for a moment."  Fujiko said as she sat down on the extremely luxurious bed of the suite.  

"Well, Fuji-cakes, what happened with Mr. Big?"  

"I'll tell you."

* * * 

Fujiko had indeed told the story as it happened as she was lead down to Deck #13 or the Recluse Deck as Vincent had called it.  She wasn't about to leave anything out, perhaps she just wanted to tease Lupin and Quatre a little bit about whether Vincent had gotten any piece of her action.  She told them about the elevator trip that went down to the Recluse Deck and how Vincent had his arms around her, locking her in an embrace that Fujiko had never felt or ever will care to feel ever again.  

Then she was introduced to Vincent's Private deck once the doors had opened.  It was incredible to Fujiko's eyes; it was the entire deck that Vincent had built to himself.  There were several things that only a billionaire would have in a small personal space of his own.  A small putting matt near an enormous oak desk that was only a few feet from the elevator and dividing up each section of that particular deck were rooms.  Each one designed for a specific purpose for Vincent's personal use.  It was almost like the rest of the ship with its luxurious accommodations, there was a small movie theater for only a few people to use, a small swimming pool with hot tub (of course), as well as a bar with a complementary wine cellar, along with a small kitchen and dinning room, and then to top it all off there was Vincent's Luxurious bedroom.  Vincent was leading Fujiko to that room but she stopped him.

"What's wrong, Hun?" Vincent had asked in a very sweet but still an underlying cold tone.

"Before we get there" Fujiko said, "There's something of yours I want to see."

"Oh we'll get to that soon enough."  Vincent said as he reached down to unbuckle his pants.

"I know that."  Fujiko smiled trying to disguise her own disgust, "But it's something else of yours I want to see."

"Oh?" Vincent asked with his curiosity peaked.

"I read an article about you and a jewel that you have called the Wizards Glass."  She explained, "Could I see it?"

She looked up at Vincent with a look in her eyes that could only be described as a puppy-dog look.  The kind of look that when someone gives it nothing can be refused no matter how much effort is put into resisting it.  The power of its cuteness and the sympathy of it even got to the powerful Vincent Ferer.  He led Fujiko to one of the many rooms on the Recluse deck and brought her to a door that was locked in which Vincent used the same key he used in the elevator to open it.  Behind that door, Vincent turned on the lights and Fujiko was…confused.  All she saw in that room was filing cabinets embedded into the wall.  There were approximately four, five drawer filing cabinets in each wall.  Each one stacked against one another all round as if the cabinet faces themselves were the walls.  At least that's what she thought until Vincent went to the wall just ahead of the door.  He reached up and pulled upon one of the middle drawers, and the wall opened up.  It opened as if it was one huge door, only the two middle cabinets opened up while the outer two in that wall remained stationary.  Behind that camouflage door was a huge black safe. 

"Very inventive."  Fujiko complemented

"Why thank you, Miss Fujiko." Vincent had smiled as he used his body to cover up the combination he was entering into the safe.  

After three clicks of the combination lock and a turn of the lever, the safe opened.  He opened the enormous thick steel door of the safe and Fujiko was amazed to see what was in there.  Contrasting against the black painted metal interior of the safe were gold bars, boxes of jewelry of all kinds, including a ring that Fujiko particularly liked.  A golden ring that had three pink heart shaped stones in it that she assumed were pink diamonds.  There were even pearl necklaces and gold chains.  As well as stacks of papers, but in the top left corner on its very own shelf and sitting upon a special stand was the Wizards Glass.  It wasn't as brightly pink as it was when Lupin had it, but that much was obvious from the gloomy black pain that covered the inside of the safe.

"One of my most prized possessions."  Vincent said as he reached up to stroke the glassy surface of his prize.  

Fujiko's heart was racing to see that thing again.  Her impulses told her to just grab the Wizard's Glass for herself and return home.  Then she brought herself back by asking herself a very important question of what life would be like without Lupin.  The very thought of existing in a place where Lupin didn't exist was too terrible to even fathom.  She knew that this plan had to work if she was going to go home with him or even go home at all.  

"It's very beautiful."  Fujiko said still holding onto the act that she was going to sleep with Vincent.

"Now that you've seen it, what do you say we head back to my cabin?"  Vincent asked

"Of course" Fujiko smiled, "But first I'll make us a drink."

"Sure."  Vincent said as he closed up the safe, "You'll find the bar down the hall."

Fujiko followed the instructions and proceeded with the next part of her end of the plan.  She went to the bar and proceeded to fix herself up a drink as well as one for Vincent.  In the short time that she had met this man she knew that he was a scotch drinker, much like all those other high powered men on Wall Street.  She made her drink as well as Vincent's but as she finished making it, she reached into her purse and pulled out something that would be the most crucial linchpin in the operation.  She pulled out a small vile filled with white powder that was a sleeping agent.  She poured it into the scotch and used one of the many stirring rods at the bar to mix up the drug with the drink.  She brought both of them to the bedroom of Vincent feeling even more nervous than she had ever felt in her life.  Everything had to go perfectly otherwise the whole operation will be blown.                 

She came into Vincent's bedroom which was just as luxurious as the rest of the deck as well as the rest of the ship.  The bed itself was so big that at least four or give people could comfortably sleep in it and yet this was just for one man.  She looked at him and saw that he had already taken off his jacket and tie as was unbuttoning his shirt while Fujiko handed him his drink.  He looked as thought he was going to set it down on the nightstand, but she knew of a sure fire way to get him to drink it.  She raised her drink and proposed a toast.

"Here's to you, Mr. Ferer" She said, "To the Emperor of Wall Street."

Vincent immediately went for his drink, he raised his eyebrows at what Fujiko said, "The Emperor of Wall Street…I like that."  He was rubbing his chin in appreciation of such high praise.  It was even more than what any article in Forbes Magazine could say about him.  He raised his glass for an instant and drank the Scotch.  He drank it all down in one shot as if he was in some kind of contest.

"Ah…"  He said allowing the alcohol to clear his throat, "That's the stuff….I am the Emperor of Wall Street."  He looked at Fujiko with half open eyes that looked as though there were starting to loose some of its shine.  His balance was starting to loose its rigidity, he swayed back and forth from where he stood.  Until at last he sat back on the bed, fell to his side, allowing his glass to slip out of his hand, and he fell under the spell of the drug that Fujiko had slipped him.  

Thank God there were no guards on this deck, Fujiko thought, as Vincent fell asleep.    

* * *

            "Bravo, Fujiko."  Lupin applauded, "Bravo to you."

            "Thanks Lupin."  She said as she looked at her watch, "I gave him that drug about 15 minutes ago, and the drug should have worked for 3 hours but with the alcohol in it, he should be out for 5 hours or so."

            "More than enough time for us" Jigen smirked

            "Now that Mr. Ferer is out of the way" Johan stepped in, "It's time to start Phase 2."  

* * *

            The time was right but the clock was ticking, despite how much time they had.  The Preventers and the Lupin crew set out for the second stage of the operation to gain back the Wizards Glass.  

            Upon Deck 14, in a small storage closet there was Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, and Johan.  All four of them were dressed in stealth suits, almost like Ninja's ready to make their assassination.  Lupin had on his pack that contained his tools for breaking into safes.  Jigen had on his weapons including his favorite weapon of choice, his M-19 Combat Cannon.  Goemon had his suit on but the only weapon that he needed was the Zantetsuken.  Each of them had a small ear piece that had a microphone attached to it.  Johan made sure that the door was locked so that no one could get in at least for a while, giving them enough time to get to their goal.  

            He reached for the microphone attached to the earpiece, "This is team 4 at the treasure chest, ready to go."

            He heard the call offs from the other teams all over the ship.

            "This is team 1" Trowa's voice came through, "Were in position at Location A, ready to go."

            "This is team 2" Heero's voice ran clear, "Were in position at Location B…ready to commence operation."  

            "This is team 3" Wufei's voice stated, "ready to go at Location C."  

            "Good."  Johan said, "Be ready for the signal to start."  

            He looked to Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon who were already standing up amongst the shelves of disinfecting solution, Windex, and God knows what other kinds of cleaning products.  All three of them had looks about them like boys who had been on a very high speed ride and were taking a new friend for a spin on it.  

            Johan gave the word, "Start."

* * *

            Inside the security room of the Juliet, the good Inspector Zenigata (under the title of Officer of Preventer) leaned back in his chair watching the security monitors while sipping out the juices and noodles of his Instant Ramen cup.  That stuff always tasted horrible to him, no matter how many times he had to eat it, but then again he had no other choice as far as anything instant.  It always tasted too salty…too salty, and the noodles didn't exactly make it any better.  He had to admit to himself that he was jealous of Lupin and the others as they were eating their gourmet meals out in the Oak room, but he had to remind himself that this was important.  He had to…turn a blind eye and wait for the signal.

BLAR! BLAR! BLAR!

Zenigata jumped out of his seat spilling his cup of instant Ramen noodles on the floor when the alarms went off.  He looked over to his right at the security board which was wasn't like those old boards that he was used to.  The kind where there would be a singular light that would come on whenever one of the alarms would go off in that respective spot.  This one was an LCD screen that actually showed the exact location of where the alarm was tripped.  He looked and saw that it was at the location of the "Laurel Palace" casino.  

            "Ah Ha!"  Zenigata shouted out with such glee, "I've got you now!"

            Immediately after Zenigata jumped up for joy at what was going on, one of the security guards came in.

            "What is it sir?"  he asked making his voice louder than the alarm.        

            "It's Lupin!"  He shouted at him, "Get all your men together and meet me at the Laurel Palace!"

            The guard simply saluted remembering that Zenigata had the authority to give orders as long as the threat of Lupin is aboard, "Yes, sir!"                

            Then something else happened…

BLAR! BLAR! BLAR!

A second alarm came on…and the screen displayed another robbery that was going on at another casino several decks away from the Laurel Palace Casino.  This time it was that the Golden Paradise.  

            "Hey, somebody get in here!"

            Another security guard stepped right in.  "Yes, sir!"  He saluted

            "Get another team of men together and go to the Golden Paradise casino!  There's a robbery in progress!"

            "Yes, sir!"  The guard saluted and dashed out to find a team to stop the robbery.

            Zenigata was about to leave to join one of the teams at the Laurel Palace, but then…

            BLAR! BLAR! BLAR!

            "WHAT NOW?!?!" Zenigata shouted at the board.  As the old saying goes, "Ask and ye shall received", the board displayed another casino that had a robbery in progress.  It was another few decks away from The Laurel Palace and the Golden Paradise, this time it was at the Hideaway Casino.  

            "CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP!" Zenigata cursed

            "Sir!"  Yet, another guard came in to see Zenigata, "I heard the alarm, sir!"

            "Get a team together and get your butts down to the Hideaway Casino!"

            "Sir!"  He saluted and headed out

            As Zenigata somewhat calmed down from his fit of cursing he looked back at the board where three different robberies were taking place all over the ship, he couldn't help but smirk.  It was actually the first time in a very long time that he had done something like that.  Come to think of it, he couldn't exactly think of the last time when he even smiled in such a way.  He only uttered one thing as the screen displayed those three different robberies.

            "Brilliant plan"    

* * *

            Inside that storage closet that Lupin, Jigen, Goemon and Johan were in, they went ahead with the plan.  It was quite simply the most brilliant plan that had ever been devised by the master thief Arense Lupin the Third.  The plan was simple, the security aboard the Juliet was only enough to stop three robberies simultaneously.  Unfortunately, even with that, the security people would have their hands completely tied for a period of approximately 10 minutes…give or take.  So, this would be the only window of opportunity for them to act.  

            Goemon went into the Samurai Horses stance to draw out his Zantetsuken.  Within a matter of an instant, a flash, and the sound of metal clanging against each other, he had made a hole.  He was already bringing his sword back into its sheath when the pieces in the floor had given away.  Lupin was the first to jump down, then Jigen, then Goemon…and last of all Johan.  

            Lupin acted quickly upon the information that Fujiko had given to him.  The safe was behind the wall of fake filing cabinets opposite of the door.  Lupin looked and found it in a matter of seconds.  He opened the fake wall that separated him from his prize.  While Goemon and Jigen kept watch both at the door to the vault as well as above to make sure that no unsuspecting maid comes in to get a new bottle of Windex for her housekeeping duties.  

            Lupin looked at the safe and thought to himself that it was really easy.  He took out a small stethoscope and placed it against the face of the safes door.  He listened very carefully as his hands worked their way to gain the right combination.  His hands and ears worked together in such harmony for the right combination.

            Click…

            Lupin knew that he was close.  His hand at first was turning right, then when he heard that first click he turned it left, and finally to the right again.  He reached up to the lever and pulled it…and the door opened.  He looked inside and his eyes had found what Fujiko was talking about.  He had found the Wizard's Glass.  The very thing that brought him to this maddening world and he knew that it would take him back.  He reached out and took it from its stand.  He held it in his black gloved hands staring into its pink depths.  As he did, Johan shoved in.

            "What are you looking for?"  Lupin asked

            "Evidence"  Johan said as he shuffled through the filing drawers inside the safe.  In the dim light that was coming from the storage closet above them, Johan looked.  Still time was growing short for them all.  Johan had to look at his watch to see how much time the operation had before he had to give the order.  

            6 minutes.

            Then he found it…

            He found a tan colored thick folder; it was so heavy that there was actually a triple twist twine piece of string holding it together.  Upon it there was a small label placed onto it that read, "Project Wizard".  Johan opened it and his eyes widened up.  He was like an archeologist looking for "the smoking gun" to prove his theories to his colleagues or rather a treasure hunter who'd found the mother-load.  He flipped past pages and pages of what was inside the Project Wizard Folder.  He saw time tables, mobile suit production locations, and even plans for mobile suits.    

            "I got the bastard by the balls now."  Johan said looking at his watch.

            3 minutes

            "Let's get the hell out of here."

            "Agreed" Goemon said; he went to the location of the hold and jumped through the hole as if he was a frog jumping from one Lilly pad to another.

            Following behind were Lupin and Jigen who went through the hole and covered up their back door entry by laying down one of the many sheets within the storage closet.  As Lupin and his crew were getting back into their regular clothes, Johan made the call to the others.  

            "This is team 4, the Eagle has the ball…repeat, the Eagle has the ball.  Meet back at the rendezvous point."

            "Copy that."  Teams 1, 2, and 3 had responded to Johan's report.    

            "So," Lupin smiled, "The plan was a great success."

            "Not yet."  Johan said, "We may have gotten to the halfway point, but we're not out of the woods yet."

To be continued…


	7. Thief and Glass

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Lupin the Third, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

**Notice to Readers:** To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required. 

**Gundam Wing and Lupin the Third**

**The Wizards Glass**

**Chapter 7: Thief and Glass**

*****

            The plan may have succeeded to that point, but there were still a few things that needed to be done.  The first task that needed to be done was for all the members of each team to rendezvous back at the suite within a few hours.  They knew that they couldn't go back to the suite immediately after committing this robbery; it would be a little obvious to the security people.  So, each member of all four teams had split up individually all over the ship.  Some going to the theaters, some to the restaurants, bars, and so on.  Still, even with the Wizard's Glass and the information on Vincent's mobile suit productions in their hands, they had a way to counter that just in case the security people decided to search them.  

For Lupin, he decided to carry the papers on Vincent's mobile suit activities.  So he had a special briefcase for this, even when the security people come to look at it, it looks just like any other briefcase.  Except Lupin knew that when he pulled on a special strap inside, it'll reveal a secret compartment where the papers were stored.  

Johan on the other hand volunteered to carry the Wizard's Glass.  For he had a special kind of case for this one special piece, it was a guitar case.  Though when a security officer would open it up, they would only see a guitar case, but that was the clever deception.  For the face of the guitar only covered the compartment inside.  In which the Wizard's Glass was stored among the padding and red velvet.  

The time aboard the ship was already 9:00 p.m. and the security people under the leadership under Zenigata were already busy trying to figure out what had just happened.  This was the part that was the most brilliant to Lupin which was that the robberies at the other Casinos were only covers.  The other teams there wouldn't actually steal anything; they were only there to trip the alarms while Lupin and his crew stole the Wizard's Glass right from under them.  Now the security people are seeing that it was only a false alarm.  Still there was one other factor that had occurred to them all, which was the fact that Vincent was still asleep because of that drug that Fujiko had slipped him, but it wasn't the time to worry about it.  

The prime concern for all of them was to try to slip under the noses of the Security people without being caught.  Providing that Zenigata keeps them off their backs, which was Zenigata's role the whole time.  To keep the ships security occupied while they made their escape.  

There were a few close calls with Lupin and Johan at opposite ends of the ship of being caught with their items.  Such as Lupin was asked to show what was in his suitcase by one of the security guards.  He showed them what was in it, but he couldn't deny to himself that he was nervous as hell about being caught.  That's always the risk about being a thief…being caught…but it's usually an occupational hazard.  Sort of like the risk of being hit in the head with a two by four as a construction worker.  Thankfully the security people never found anything, and Lupin breathed easily once again.

Even Johan with his guitar case was very nervous that some kind of guitar obsessed groupie would come around asking him to play a song for him.  Then…wouldn't you know it…it happened.  It was some silly little girl who was head over heels about Latin men and their Spanish guitars.  At first Johan tried to tell her that he didn't feel like playing, but she was relentless in pleading with him to play like a Mariachi player.  The only way Johan was able to loose this groupie was by going into the men's room and waiting it out until she left him alone.  It truly was too close for him.  During that whole time that the groupie was pleading with him, his heart felt like it was going to jump right out of his throat.  He calmed down when he looked outside the men's room door and saw that the groupie was gone.  He looked at his watch and saw that it was nearly time for the rendezvous.  So with the guitar case in his hand he headed back to the suite.  

* * *

The time was midnight.  

Johan walked into the suite with the guitar case in his hand.  He came in proudly seeing all his friends and co-workers there with the Lupin crew.   There was even the inspector Zenigata.  They all welcomed him back, especially his wife Haruka who wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply.  She was so grateful to see her husband back and in one piece.

"I missed you so much, Johan."  Haruka whispered

Johan wrapped his arms around his wife careful not to hit her with the guitar case, "I know love."

"Hey, Johan." Lupin called out, "Do you have it?"

Johan broke the embrace with his wife and set down the guitar case upon the bed.  He threw open the lid and shoved down the false guitar face.  He pushed it down similar to how some CD players open in stereos in which they need a push in before they can open.  The false guitar face opened and Lupin feasted his eyes upon the Wizard's Glass as it sat within all that padding and red velvet.  Johan reached down and pulled it out of its haven.  He held it in his hands and looked at it for a moment, much like that scene from Hamlet when he looks at that skull in the graveyard.  

"It's hard to believe that such a small thing like this could case so much trouble."  Johan philosophized about it.

"You'd be surprised at how much trouble Lupin gets into just for Fujiko."  Jigen commented

"Hey…"  Lupin objected to Jigen

Johan only smiled, "That only proves how motivated he is."

"It's nice to know that I have some voice of confidence in my corner."

As Johan was about to hand the Wizard's Glass back to Lupin…something was happening with the Wizard's Glass.  It was beginning to glow…it was happening again.  The very same pink smoke that had enveloped, Lupin, his crew and Inspector Zenigata that brought them to this world of Gundams…but there was something different.  The Lupin crew started to get worried that Johan might be the one that would be taken to a different world.  God knows where he could be taken to.  Yet, it still felt different, like seeing a scene in an old movie that was never noticed before.       

Johan fell to his knees as the pink smoke enveloped him.  He looked down into the pink glass, deeper, deeper, deeper….down, down, down.  As he felt himself go deeper into the depths of the Wizard's Glass, he felt a sensation over his body.  At first he felt like falling, but then the sensation changed and it was a feeling like flying, like diving off of a high board.  Yet, he didn't feel gravity's pull, he felt himself flying through the air, despite the fact that everyone around him saw that he was kneeling with the Wizard's Glass in his hand.  His mouth was open, much like his eyes, both as open and wide as could be.

He continued to be drawn into the depths of the Wizard's Glass and he began to see formations in the pink smoke that enveloped him and the glassy surface.  He felt himself flying over a land, yet it was a land unlike anything he had ever seen before.  Untamed wilderness of the highest kind; there were forests that were so thick that it must have taken decades or even centuries for them to grow.  Then he saw mountains, a long range of mountains that must have stretched out for hundreds of miles.  He was looking down upon them as if he was Superman flying over Metropolis looking for bad guys.  He then looked out and in the distance…he saw it.  Like a black spot on a white canvas he saw it standing out, a tower; a dark tower that sat upon a small island in the middle of a lake that must have bordered between a lake and an ocean.   Its dark spires stretched up and up to the sky like the skyscrapers that are seen in all major cities.  Yet, this dark tower looked almost like a castle with its turrets that sprouted up along its sides.    

Johan felt himself being drawn to it; it even looked like he was going to crash into the tower, but only a few moments later he didn't crash into the walls of the dark tower.  Instead he flew into one of the windows and landed on his feet as if he was some kind of bird landing on its perch.  That's when he heard a voice calling out to him.  

_Help me…help me…_

Then…all was black…

Back in the reality of the suite onboard the Juliet, Lupin, his crew and the rest of the Preventers were trying to pry Johan away from the Wizards Glass.  Until at last Johan looked like he passed out much like how a person could faint.  All consciousness goes out of their eyes and they collapse like a store mannequin that has no support.  All of them tried to revive their fallen friend, even his wife came in like a nurse aiding an injured soldier.  She checked his pulse and found that he was just fine.  He had only lost consciousness for a moment.  

"What the hell happened to him?" Jigen asked

Lupin, who had ripped the Wizard's Glass from Johan's grasp looked into it, "I wish I knew."  He answered 

* * *

            Johan was lying down on the bed in the luxurious suite while his friends were watching over him.  Especially his loving wife, Haruka who never left his side since the Wizard's Glass had drawn him in.  The shock had worn off of most of them, but it was replaced with confusion as well as fear.  No one knew what was going on with that Wizard's Glass…from what they had all witnessed; it had seemed as if the jewel itself had a mind of its own.  Choosing when and when not to be active like an earthquake equipped with a dangerous mind.    

            Frankly, several of them were scared, scared halfway out of their minds.  Even Jigen, because it reminded him too much of certain treasures that they looted which should have been left alone.  One in particular was the Death Mask of the Egyptian King Tutankhamen.  It drove Lupin to the deepest levels of insanity until they had to put it back in its proper place.  Except the Wizard's Glass was ten times as frightening.  Lupin's crew had reminded themselves of the stories surrounding it.  How wars were started for that jewel, people murdered, driven insane, and most of all vanished into thin air.  

            "And that thing is supposed to take us home?" Jigen asked keeping his gruff voice in front of the fact that he was scarred shitless.  

            "What choice do we have?" Lupin asked

            "None" Goemon answered

            "There you have it." Lupin shrugged, "We have to trust the Wizard's Glass to get us home."

            "Are you nuts, Lupin?" Zenigata asked, "You expect us to trust something like that?"

            "If you have a better way to get home Pops, I'm listening."  

            Of course Zenigata had no clue of how to get back other than the Wizard's Glass.   

Haruka looked down at her husband brushing her fingers through his hair.  She smiled when she looked down at him sleeping on the bed.  He looked so peaceful to her, if it wasn't for the fact that they were on a mission she would have curled up beside him and slept through the night.  It was funny how their marriage was in the realistic sense.  A cynic once said that marriage was like communism; it's nice in theory but doesn't work in reality.  It seemed that Johan and Haruka's marriage was the exception to the cynics' voice.  For nearly 20 years, they had been together, fighting alongside each other, raising their children together, and loving each other every moment of their lives.  This was love in its purest form.

As Haruka never left the side of her husband, there was another side to a love story that needed to be concluded.  It was in another part of the suite that was cut off from the others who were in fear of being caught on the ship by one of Vincent's people as well as afraid that Johan might never wake up.  In one of the bedrooms that were closed off, Quatre met with Fujiko.  He had to speak with her, ever since she got back from the operation, he wanted to see her.  He wanted to experience her, smell her Chanel No. 5, feel her soft skin, look into her bluish eyes, and hear her soft voice in his ear.  

"Fujiko."  Quatre whispered

"Yes?" Fujiko answered

"I wanted to tell you something."

"I think I know what it is."  Fujiko's voice sounded as if she was dreading what Quatre was about to say.

"I know that I have feelings for you.  I know that I love you…"

Fujiko noticed the pause in Quatre's voice as well as the look on his face seeing how it turned away from hers and looked down to the floor.  His eyes seemed filled with sadness as well as regret.  She wondered if it was regret that he ever met her, or regret for something else.  She came closer to Quatre and took his hand into hers.  

"What is it, Quatre?"

Quatre took Fujiko's hands into his, feeling her soft skin in his already sweating palms.  It seemed so darkly ironic to him, because of all his riches, resources, and power he could have anything he wanted.  Still, there was one thing he knew that money couldn't buy and that was love.  He knew that in his heart, but at that moment he knew it fully.

"I do love you."  Quatre repeated, "More than anything that I could ever feel in my entire existence, but I know that I can't have you."

Fujiko looked down to the floor in the same regretful way that Quatre had done only a few moments ago.

"I know that this is not where you belong"  Quatre's voice sounding more mournful than ever, "I know that you also love someone else."

Fujiko's gaze snapped back to Quatre's face, he knew about her relationship with Lupin the Third.  A relationship that has had more peaks and valleys than the Grand Canyon itself; the two had been allies, enemies, lovers, friends, and pretty much everything else in between.  Fujiko did know in the back of her mind that she had feelings for Lupin, but…but…she could never bring herself to admit it.  At least not until Quatre had told that to her face.  

"I shall give up for you are free to decide what you want, Miss Fujiko."

Fujiko came in closer and hugged Quatre, wrapping her arms around his neck, while Quatre wrapped his arms around her waist.  He wanted to absorb all he could in that one moment, the feeling of Fujiko's body against his, the feel of her hair, and the smell of that Chanel no. 5.  

"I know that I will always think of you each time I hold the Ruby Rose."  She whispered into Quatre's ear.

"I shall always remember you when I smell Chanel no. 5."  Quatre answered back

Fujiko pulled away to look back at Quatre, she leaned in and placed a kiss upon his lips.  For the first time in her own life, she felt her heart torn in two separate directions.  One to this kind man, the Noble in the Desert, Quatre; and the other was to the Emperor of Thieves, Lupin.  Still, she had to bring herself to the reality that the world where Quatre lived wasn't where she belonged.  Her place was at Lupin's side.  

The door opened and in walked Haruka Tenou, "Johan is awake."  She said      

Back out in the room, Jigen was already starting to ask questions to Johan about his experience with that devilish jewel.  

"What did you see, man?"  Jigen asked Johan as he got up from his bed

"I'm not sure" Johan answered, "It was as if the Wizard's Glass wanted me to see it."

"But what was it?"  Heero asked

"A tower" Johan answered, "a dark tower, unlike anything I had ever seen with my own eyes."

"Damn."  Jigen raised his eyebrows under the brim of his hat, "That is just too damn freaky."

"I agree."  Johan stated, "But we've wasted too much time already.  We have to start the last phase…exit."  

* * *

            The time was close to two a.m., and with the information about Vincent Ferer's illegal activities as well as the Wizard's Glass in their hands, it was time to leave.  They all knew that with the Wizard's Glass gone as well as that very sensitive information, no doubt Vincent would comb the ship from stem to stern until he found them.  He would also more than likely imprison the ones who had it in their possession.  So, it went without saying that they had to escape.  

            They all had arrived at the exit point, which was one of those parts of the ship where a person had access to the lifeboats.  Except in their cases they weren't going to use one of them, they had another escape vehicle.  

            Standing at the guardrail, all of the Preventers and Lupin's crew looked out to the sea.  It wasn't as black as anyone might have imagined.  It was a full moon that night and it sent its radiant glow down to the water where it sparkled like diamonds sent from Heaven itself.  It was out there where the escape vehicles were.  

Heero pulled back the sleeve of his suit and spoke into the face of the watch.  He looked almost like a cooler version of Dick Tracy with his radio transistor watch that relayed information from headquarters.  

"Send out the core landers."  He spoke

Within a matter of an instant there were several lights out on the water.  They weren't lights like the shinning from the moon's glow.  They looked like headlights, like the ones that are seen on the highway when they're at a great distance away and were coming closer with each second.  All of them were lined up on the water like the Blue Angels in formation.  Lupin and the others squinted as they drew closer.  There were about 12 of them, 12 lights all heading towards the ship.  In the light of the moon they couldn't see what was coming, though Lupin and the others knew something about these "core landers" that Heero talked about.  He only knew that they were like cars, but not quite cars.  

"I'll go first."  Heero said as he climbed up onto the rail, squatting down like Batman on the edge of a tall skyscraper looking out into Gotham City.

Lupin and the others finally saw the Core Landers, they were all flying cars.  All of them coming towards the ship, at first it seemed like they were coming straight at them.  Then they diverted course to come up alongside of the ship.  That's when Lupin saw them flying through the air like airplanes.  

Heero jumped off into the first core lander.  

"Let's go, Lupin."  Duo said as he took Lupin's hand and they both jumped down into the cockpit of the next core lander.

"Here is ours."  Trowa said as he and Jigen jumped into the next one.

Wufei didn't say a word to Goemon, they knew what was coming as they too jumped off the side of the ship into the core lander.  

"Madame Haruka?" Johan asked his lovely wife.              

"Thank you."  Haruka bowed as the two of them leapt for their lander.  

"Miss Fujiko?"  Quatre asked as he took his position and grabbed Fujiko into his arms and held her like a groom carrying off his bride.  Fujiko loved being treated the way Quatre did, she only wished Lupin did some of those things as well.  She looked to where Quatre was looking as their core lander was drawing closer.    

"Stop right there!"  A voice called out

Quatre turned around with Fujiko in his arms and saw Vincent Ferer facing them.  His slicked back hair was already messy with it mussed up as if he had been pulling at it.  Those beady eyes of his were red with anger along with the bloodshot look that the drug had given him. Even his clothes looked messy as if he was in a bar fight.  In the same instant he exhibited both surprise as well as extreme hatred.  

"You…" he snarled raising his finger at them like a dying man pointing to the one who killed him, "You…I knew it was you.  You stole my Wizard's Glass and my files!"

"Too late, Vincent" Quatre had cackled back at the corrupt business man.  "Your time is up."

…and Quatre leapt of the side of the ship down to the waters below.  Fujiko hugged Quatre's neck a little harder but she was sure not to choke him.  Quatre knew that he had a good grip around Fujiko, one arm around her back and another under her legs.  He looked to his core lander as it came closer and closer while at the same time the surface of the water came closer.  He kept his eyes open on the core lander while Fujiko had her eyes closed shut as Quatre held her closer.  Quatre had landed safely into the core lander, setting Fujiko on the seat next to him, and taking the controls.    

"You can open your eyes now, Miss Fujiko."  Quatre smiled at Fujiko

She opened her eyes and looked out the window canopy of the core lander, seeing the water speed by them as if they were in some kind of fancy speed boat.  She sat back in her seat breathing a great sigh of relief.  

"For a moment there I thought we were done for."

"Well, I wouldn't be too relaxed right now."  Quatre warned, "He's probably going to notify his troops to come after us."

Fujiko had noticed that Quatre's voice had changed considerably.  Just a while ago he looked as if he was ready to weep because he couldn't' have Fujiko any longer.  Then while he was driving the core lander he looked as confident as a general sure that his military strategy would work.  

"Everyone" Johan's voice came through the COM system, "Looks like we got company.  Multiple bogies are coming up from the rear.  They look like mobile suits, probably sent by Vincent."

"Sorry everyone."  Quatre apologized, "He caught me before I got to my lander."

"That doesn't matter now.  Get ready for combat.  Call for your Gundams."

"You're going to fight?" Fujiko asked with surprise

"Doesn't look like we have a lot of choice" Quatre said bearing his teeth, "Go Gundam!"  He shouted

Up ahead Fujiko watched as another set of lights sped across the water towards the core lander.  It was just like before, that time a week ago when she saw the Gundams for the very first time.  She remembered her exact moment of fear looking up at those metallic giants.  As a little girl, Fujiko did hear those fairy tales of giants and how they always had great strength and terrorized people smaller than themselves.  She felt just like one of those people when she first looked at the Gundam.  She had even experienced a mobile suit battle from the ground and with the approaching enemies she would most definitely experience it from the cockpit.  As the Gundams drew closer Fujiko looked to see Quatre taking off his jacket.  When he pulled it all off he set it aside and set his hands to work on the next piece of clothing.        

"What are you doing?"  Fujiko asked

Quatre's answer was immediate, "I'm going to use the Mobile Trace System, in order for me to use it I have to get into the MTS suit, and to do that I have to be…naked."  He seemed embarrassed by saying that word naked.  Though Fujiko did feel a little flushed at the thought of even getting a small glance of Quatre in that state.  She was told about this Mobile Trace System and how the Preventers had this technology installed when they had visited a different universe.  She had to admire the Preventers or at least respect them because they were like herself as well as Lupin and his friends…there was never a dull moment in their lives.  

She watched as Quatre took off his dress shirt, taking his hands away from the wheel, Fujiko dove for it keeping the core lander driving straight as Quatre then went to work on his shoes, his socks, then his pants, and the Gundams were within range.  The brave Gundam pilot already had his pants around his ankles when he took back the controls and pilots the core lander to his beloved mobile suit, his Gundam Sandrock.  

Coming behind the Gundam, the Core Lander had set itself in its place.  The core lander had opened its glass roof allowing Quatre to slip into the cockpit.  Before he did he slipped out of his underwear and sneaking into the cockpit like a car thief slipping into the drivers seat.  Fujiko of course covered her eyes, though she would admit to herself later on in life that she did sneak a small peak at Quatre in that state.  She only smiled.  

Inside the cockpit, Quatre opened that little panel at the side of the cockpit seat, flipped the switches and pressed the button and on came the mobile trace system.  He stood as the MST rings spun and brought their material over his head and covered his body.  

"This is Quatre, standing by for battle."  

Fujiko was in a safe place while she was inside the core lander that was right behind the MTS system cockpit.  Yet, she could see through into the cockpit and watched as Quatre was about to fight.  The mobile suits came and the fight had begun.  There were so many of them that it was like they sky was raining down mobile suits.  Or like all those B-movies where aliens in their super-advanced star ships came down from the skies to reek havoc on the cities below them.

All of the Lupin crew watched in their respective areas, Goemon watching Wufei, Lupin watching Duo, Jigen watching Trowa, and Fujiko watching Quatre.  They all were watching them fight.  They saw the passion that they had in their craft.  It only made each of them have greater respect and admiration for them as they fought.  Wufei with his excellent martial arts skills, Heero for his accuracy, Trowa for his great fire power, Duo for his sneakiness, Quatre for his resilience, and Johan for his relentlessness.

It truly was incredible…    

* * *

            The time had come to say good-bye…

            It was true that the Preventers had been victorious in their moonlight battle against Vincent's small army of mobile suits.  As far as what happened after that, it was a rather quick and clean deal for Vincent Ferer.  With the evidence in their possession, they had brought the case to the courts and Vincent was charged with some very high crimes.  Illegal Mobile Suit manufacturing, Mobile Suit Dealing, Money Laundering, and a good number of World Nation Law violations.  Preventer had gotten the evidence that they needed, though when the court had asked where they had gotten such evidence, they simply said that they had gotten it from an anonymous source.  

            As far as the Lupin crew…the time had come for them to say good-bye to their Preventer hosts.  Lupin did seem a little saddened by it, but of course he smiled in the end at all of them, raised his arms and said,

            "It has been on hell of a ride."  

            Even the serious Goemon smiled a little bit, "I hope that we may see you all again some day."

            "Under better circumstances, I would think."  Wufei had added.

            It truly was odd how some of Lupin's crew really had hit it off with some of the members of the Preventers.  Seemingly eerie, as if they were reflections of each other in different worlds, realms, or whatever term that could be used to describe the gap between them.  Still, the time had come to leave….

            It was at the Winner Family Mansion inside the great library where Lupin and his crew had gathered around the Wizard's Glass.  Lupin held it in his hand staring into its pink surface and deeper into the pink chasms.  He hunched over and stared harder and harder into it like a man trying to the hidden image in a Magic Eye poster…nothing happened.  He straightened back up, looked at his friends and the Preventers.  His look was both frustration as well as an "Oh well" sort of expression.  

            "Guess it's not gonna work for us today."  

            Holding the Wizard's Glass in his hand, within and instant the room was flooded with the pink smoke.  It spurted out from the jewel like some kind of fancy magic show where the magician is supposed to appear through the mist.  Lupin didn't even dare to drop it; he knew in his heart that this was the way home.  Despite the fact that there was doubt in his mind about where the smoke would take them, perhaps the paranoia that Jigen had was beginning to rub onto him.  He hunched over again, staring into the pink canyons that ranged from the highest pink highlights to the deepest reds from the shadows of his hands.  

            The pink smoke began to shrink, the Preventers watched as the smoke rapidly imploded upon the Lupin crew.  There was the small concern that the smoke maybe…just maybe…take them with the Lupin crew into that insane world that they have to get by in.  Yet, the smoke had passed the Preventers and closed in upon the Lupin crew like some kind of odd soap bubble.  Then the smoke vanished like sand into the wind leaving behind nothing.  

            "They're gone."  Johan had stated

            "They are."  Quatre had said with a mournful tone in his heart

            Yet the always cheerful Duo came over and slapped Quatre on the back, "Hey, cheer up, buddy-boy!  There are billions of women out there, I'm sure you'll find one."

            Quatre looked down and said, "Not like her."  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle.  A small perfume bottle that Fujiko had given him as a parting gift, he looked at its label, "Chanel No. 5" and took in one great whiff of its intoxicating scent remembering everything that Fujiko was.    

            "I just hope that she'll be happy."

To be continued…


	8. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Lupin the Third, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

**Notice to Readers:** To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required. 

**Gundam Wing and Lupin the Third**

**The Wizards Glass**

**Chapter 8: Epilogue**

*****

            Meanwhile in Lupin's world, at the Washington D.C. International Airport, the great thief Arsene Lupin the Third and his crew were standing in line (the first class line) for their plane to Paris, France.  Each of them were quiet, much like how an audience is quiet after they had seen a movie that they do not understand or has made them think for the first time in their lives.  Who could blame them after the experience that they had gone through?  They had been to another world and back, what kind of adventure could they ever have or would ever have to top it?  All of them had brought back with them an experience that they would never forget.  Lupin seeing people who were just as passionate about their work as he was, that kind of dedication he only saw in other person; Pops.  Jigen came back feeling like he had met his twin, or at least someone who was his match.  The same could be said about Goemon who met someone who was just as dedicated to the path that he had chosen.  Yet, Fujiko was the one who was the most impacted by this experience by meeting someone who could actually and genuinely love.  She touched the Ruby Rose pinned to her dress just thinking about him.  

The boarding had already begun, and the four of them had made their way into past the gate when they heard an uproarious voice booming from behind them.  All four of them looked to find their old nemesis, the man from Interpol Inspector Zenigata.  

            "Lupin!"  He shouted, "You little weasel!  We had a deal!"

            It was true that they had a deal, Lupin smirked at this.  That Lupin would return the Wizard's Glass to its rightful place.  Zenigata would help in that matter, but the brash inspector wanted something out of helping the thief.  His demands were that if he helped Lupin do it that Lupin would turn himself in…of course like so many other times before that it never worked out that way.  So when the inspector found out that he had been cheated of his deal he dashed to the airport because he knew that it was the most likely of places that Lupin would go.  

            "There's old Pops again."  Lupin smirked, "Here we go again my friends!  The chase is on."

            He turned and went back into the gate followed by his friends and his comrades with the boisterous Zenigata shaking his fist and giving chase behind them.

            "Crap! Crap!  Lupin!  Get back here!"

Not quite the end…

* * *

            Across the vast possibilities and infinite worlds of time and space, a wandering samurai named Kenshin Himura sat upon the roof of his home in Tokyo looking up at the stars.  Kenshin was a young samurai but of a very different type.  Once a killer now in the type of peace in 1878 Japan of the Meiji Era, he was a wanderer.  Yet, his home was the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo, a place where there were people who cared for him.  A family in a greater sense of the word, there was the cocky and brash Sanosuke Sagara a man who lived by his fists rather than by words and who was almost like a brother to Kenshin.  Then there was Yahiko Myoujin, who was a student (possibly the only one) at the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo under the direct guise of…

            "Kenshin!"  A sweet young voice called out.  

            Kenshin looked down and in the glow of the moonlight and starlight he saw her; the woman that he had the deepest of feelings for, the head of the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo, Kaoru Kamiya.  Even from a distance she looked so lovely to Kenshin's eyes.  He couldn't help but smile down at her.  

            "Yes, Miss Kaoru?"  He answered back

            "Dinner's ready."  

            "I'll be right down."  Kenshin said as he watched Kaoru go back inside.

            He took one last look at the stars and then saw something.  He looked to the north and saw a star fall.  It streaked across the sky giving out one last sparkle before disappearing forever into the blackness of night.  

            "An omen" Kenshin said to himself, "something is about to happen."    

The End…For now…


End file.
